Failed US narrative
The Biden administration's withdrawal timetable is months behind the May 1 deadline agreed upon in talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Trump administration last year. Hujjatullah Zia, a Kabul- based columnist for Daily Outlook Afghanistan, told the Global Times that there is widespread disappointment and concern among the Afghan people over the Biden administration's withdrawal plan.
The problem is that the withdrawal is likely to create a security vacuum in Afghanistan and raise concerns, such as fears of a civil war, he said.
Zia believes it would be responsible for the US to wait until there is a breakthrough in the internal talks before announcing the withdrawal.
The American government's narrative of the war on terror failed, so American forces and their allies want to leave, Zia said, noting that the war in Afghanistan has cost heavy sacrifices on the Afghan people and the warring parties have inflicted untold damage on local civilians.
Among the regional countries, Pakistan is the most concerned about Afghanistan.
Amina Khan, director of Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East & Africa at the Institute of Strategic Studies, told the Global Times that with the Biden administration announcing the withdrawal plan, there is a risk of civil war in Afghanistan.
It is the US's responsibility to ensure some stability in Afghanistan before it leaves. Washington needs to put pressure on Kabul and the Taliban to make progress in peace talks between them, or to force either or both sides to compromise, she noted.
Khan pointed out that the US needs to persuade the government in Kabul to relinquish power and accept a new political arrangement, and also needs to pressure the Taliban to actually reduce violence.
Afghanistan covers an area of about 650,000 square kilometers and has a population of about 32.2 million. More than 85 percent of the country is Sunni Muslim.
Since falling from power in 2001, the Taliban, on the defensive, have never given up their armed struggle, and even recently threatened to resume attacks if US and NATO troops do not withdraw as scheduled. In some ethnically Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan, the Taliban still have some influence.
Ordinary people in Kabul mostly believe that US troops should leave the country altogether, but others say that the presence of US troops is a deterrent to ensure that Afghanistan does not fall back into the hands of the Taliban.
Amar, a public relations manager of Capacity for Afghanistan Think Tank ( C4A) in Afghanistan, said that Afghans are full of expectations for a real peaceful outcome.
Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the Afghan government had encouraged foreign investment, so foreign businessmen including Chinese investors successively tested the waters in the Afghan market.
According to him, the Afghan government once offered a Chinese businessman a 20- year free land- use right to set up a factory. In previous years, a lack of electricity had forced the Kabul government to rotate power to neighborhoods and build new buildings in relatively safe, affluent neighborhoods.
Amar said the influx of foreign investment has brought new things to Kabul, such as roads and buildings being built in many places, and there are almost no power cuts at present.