70th Anniversary of NATO and Afghanistan

Last week (3-4 December, 2019), London Capital UK City hosted a 2-day meeting of NATO member countries. In addition to European leaders, US President Donald Trump, representatives of other NATO international nations, the UN and the World Bank participated in the meeting.

On the second day of the meeting, Afghanistan and NATO’s mission in this country were important points on the agenda where as a consequence, NATO declared its support for Afghan security forces till 2024 and meanwhile, Moreover, some NATO member countries also spoke about the increase of their troops in Afghanistan. NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg emphasized that long-term presence in Afghanistan was desired

NATO presence and involvement, role of the organization in peace and war, the latest London meeting and the future of the Afghan War in the light of decisions made in the meeting are discussed here.

NATO and Afghanistan

NATO is a political and military organization which was established after World War II (WWII) by West Europe and the United States in order to prevent the potential threats by East Europe and the Soviet Union under the banner of “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” on April 4, 1949.

After the United States attacked Afghanistan on 7 October 2001 and brought the Taliban regime down as a result of the 9/11 incidents in America, the duty of security maintenance was delegated to ISAF forces and thus legitimized the U.S. campaign on Afghanistan after receiving authorization from the United Nations where the leadership of Afghan War was surrogated from ISAF to NATO in 2003.

Besides the military mission, International Forces along with U.S. support and NATO leadership performed some reconstruction activities under the program of Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT); however, these activities were not much related to infrastructure.

Apparently, the 2001 U.S. attack on Afghanistan, apart from the case of Osama Bin Laden, claimed to be aimed at bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan through eliminating the Taliban regime, developing the Afghan forces and establishing a democratic system, while the international community and NATO member countriesalso stood as supporters of this U.S vision. .However,, U.S geo-strategic goals in the region were pursued at the cost of peace and stabilityand thus tens of thousands of Afghans have suffered casualties in the ongoing war and instability that has caused innumerable suffering. –

Though the number of NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan hasdeclined to 14000 from 100000, the war has intensified in comparison to the past.  A new challenge is the “Islamic State” or ISIS group that has expanded its activities in the country and is considered as a big threat to Afghanistan.

NATO and Peace Process

The war that the U.S had begun with more than 100 thousand troops to form a new governance system and maintain security in Afghanistan continued till 2014.However little has changed for the better. . The ever expanding presence of Taliban and the growing insecurity and instability all point to the failure of the U.S war in Afghanistan. After 2014, tens of thousands of foreign troops left the hot and deadly battleground for Afghan forces.  Yet presently there still remains thousands of foreign troops from 39 countries having presence in Afghanistan.

After President Trump took office, a new U.S. strategy became declared on the Afghan War. Following the strategy, foreign troops once again entered the Afghan battleground. The war intensified and  aerial  bombardment increased  where as a result, massive civilian casualties took place.  According to the recent UNAMA report, 5122 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured in the first six months of 2018.

It is more than a decade and half that NATO and U.S. are  following the  strategy of war in Afghanistan; however, they are yet to succeed in changing Afghanistan for the better.. NATO itself has said that the Afghan War  does not have a military solution  and yet  billions of dollars and  troops (under the banner of training Afghan forces) are sent to fund the war.

 Evidently NATO and the international community have proven that their policy towards the Afghan War resides on double standards. .Apparently, they always invite the Taliban to make peace with the Afghan government and proclaim that the Afghan war requires a  political solution as opposed to amilitary one, yet at the same time they are yet to take any practical steps toward paving the way for a political solution.Their efforts remain limited to military endeavors.

Putting an end to the Afghan war and maintenance of peace, to a large extent, is dependent  on the decisions of the international community and the U.S for now. Instead of thinking over scheduling its withdrawal, NATO tries to send more troops to Afghanistan and fund the war, killing any hopes for peace. In  case, considering the past experiences, increase in number of troops is a fruitless effort.

NATO and future of Afghanistan

The second day of the NATO meeting in London, to a large extent, was allocated for discussion on Afghanistan focusing on the Afghan War and Peace efforts.

At the last NATO summit, the Taliban and Americans in peace talks praised the resumption of face-to-face talks. NATO Secretary General Ennis Stoltenberg said, “We are committed to continuing to support Afghanistan. Because we deeply believe in training, advising and supporting the Afghan forces, the best of peace efforts.” The way is for the Taliban to know that they will never succeed on the battlefield. They must sit at the negotiating table and push for new agreements. “

At present, NATO assistance and support to Afghan security forces may increase the moral of Afghan forces and bring Taliban under pressure; however, considering the experiences of previous years, it does not seem possible to defeat the Taliban in the battlefield. If Taliban came under pressure in face-to-face combat, they would be most likely to increase their suicide and guerilla attacks in cities which would cause the elongation of war, the increase in civilian casualties and the loss of all hope for peace.

Looking at the NATO Secretary General’s talk, which he did at the organization’s seventh anniversary celebration, he has a clear war message, undoubtedly the presence of NATO member states in Afghanistan over the past eighteen years. Opinion has proved to be more useful to the member states of the organization; they are sending their troops to Afghanistan more reliably to learn combat skills here, as well as controlling Afghanistan’s land and air with them. Although they have the opportunity to test their newly created weapons on real humans rather than animals on Afghan soil, They without permission every time and every place can, day and night operations and in areas that would not be able to strike someone advice

The recent NATO summit supported and praised the Afghan government’s peace to the Taliban. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on the armed opposition of Afghan government saying that they cannot win the war and that there should be a peaceful solution carved out of the crisis through political settlement owned by Afghans; this being what  Taliban has always rejected.

The Afghan government, especially after the formation of National Unity Government (NUG), has made remarkable nation, regional and international-level efforts for making peace with Taliban. Besides political and military pressures, the National Unity Government (NUG) has put religious pressures on the Taliban as well. Afghan government was able to make the ongoing war declared as “Haram” or prohibited as a result of “fatwas” or religious rulings issued by Afghan scholars, the Imam of Ka’aba and a large number of religious scholars from the Islamic World. Nonetheless, the Taliban are yet to make peace. The Peace process has faced deadlock in Afghanistan since the last few years and the main reasons, among other reasons, is that the Taliban want direct talks with the United States. While the U.S. does not agree to this. Though, the international media published reports that it is likely that the U.S tries to initiate direct talks with the Taliban,  the Afghan government has responded by saying that no country could substitute the Afghan government in talks with the Taliban.

These reports have brought hopes to many; however fears remain that should the U.S. intend to have direct talks with the Taliban and the Afghan government oppose it, the peace talks will then face deadlock once again.

Nonetheless, we can say that the ceasefire between the Afghan government and Taliban has proved that Afghans are tired of war and they want peace more than anything. However, the presence of foreign troops is a major reason behind the continuation of war. For now, it is crucial that the international community and NATO  try to solve  the major reason behind Afghan War. By encouraging  the U.S to have direct talks with the Taliban and to play its role in solving the Afghan War, the road to peace can be paved. Meanwhile, the Taliban should also accept the legitimacy of the Afghan government and understand that the war is going on between three sides U.S, Afghan government and Taliban), and together these three entities should find a solution and put an end to the war.