U.S. must hold firm to ensure peace in Afghanistan

After 17 bloody, gruelling and dispiriting years, America’s longest war may be coming to an end.

It will not conclude with the victory in Afghanistan that the United States has so fervently desired. Nor will it spell the final defeat of its Taliban foes.

But if the talks between the U.S. and the Taliban that are being planned for this month in Qatar and possibly Pakistan prove productive, the outcome would be the best one possible under the circumstances: peace.

That is the goal and that is the dream. But peace is entirely contingent upon the Americans faithfully standing by the current government of Afghanistan. There will be no true, lasting peace if the Americans simply use these negotiations as a cover for a hasty retreat and leave the door open for the Taliban to take over. Yet sadly, there are reasons to fear this will happen.

First, even before the talks have commenced, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he intends to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan as soon as possible. The fate of the Afghan people isn’t on the radar of this erratic isolationist.

Second, Americans are not only tired of the fighting in Afghanistan; they’ve lost interest in the place. It was far different in 2001 when the first U.S. soldiers set foot there.

The plan back then was to root out the al-Qaida terrorists who helped engineer the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. The prospect of defeating the Taliban despots who had harboured those terrorists was seen as icing on the cake.

But things turned out differently. While al-Qaida is long gone and an elected, U.S.-backed regime governs two-thirds of the population — about 24 million people — the Taliban still rules much of Afghanistan. And its fanatical fighters have not lost their taste for war.

More than 45,000 members of the Afghan security force have died fighting the Taliban since 2014. In addition, the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 24,000 Afghan civilians in the past decade.

It is understandable the Americans want out of this quagmire. But they must not simply leave Afghanistan to the Taliban’s devices. Not only would this result render pointless the years of effort and lost lives on the part of the U.S. and its NATO allies like Canada; it would abandon the Afghan people to a harsh, repressive dictatorship that in the past has especially stood out for its brutal persecution of women and girls.

It’s true that American allies such as Canada and the United Kingdom exited Afghanistan years ago. The 17,000 American troops remaining there are essentially on their own in backing the country’s security forces and propping up its government. But it was the U.S. that led the charge into Afghanistan. It was the U.S. that urged its allies to help it in its hour of need. Now the U.S. has a responsibility to the Afghans, its allies and its own people to finish what it started.

Talk to the Taliban this month. In return for an American troop withdrawal, insist that the Taliban agrees to a ceasefire, deals with the current Afghan government and no longer offers sanctuary to foreign terrorists.

The U.S. should hold firm and do all this. And keep its troops in the country until the Taliban lays down its arms and walks the path of peace.

It was the U.S. that led the charge into Afghanistan. It was the U.S. that urged its allies to help it in its hour of need. Now the U.S. has a responsibility to the Afghans, its allies and its own people to finish what it started.