Afghanistan Times
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Amid the drawdown of coalition forces reports about embryonic presence of Daesh in Afghanistan have been doing rounds in media. American officials say they acknowledge that Daesh has spread into Afghanistan. Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Maj. Bradelee Avots says the spread of Daesh into Afghanistan is of great concern. Too many people don’t think the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan, serious. But they should. It’s believed that there has been no substantial evidence of this new international terror outfit’s involvement in terrorism inside Afghanistan therefore focus should remain confine only to the Taliban. It’s also believed some of the Taliban leaders are rebranding themselves as Daesh members, whose primary aim is to get resources and attention. This notion looks valid. But what if the next day, Daesh appears on the screen here in this already troubled country with a bang? US intelligence officials might know much more about Daesh presence in this country, but since Washington has already announced drawdown therefore, they are trying to minimize the Daesh threat in the region.
Its fight against al-Qaeda in the region has left many weaknesses of the United States bare as it has neither taken this global threat to its logical end nor made Afghanistan fully capable to carve an independent peace route on its own because most of the time it was the US that dominated peace policy in the region. In such a situation it is essential to know about what the United States thinks about tackling Daesh. To better understand what’s the policy of the US to fight Daesh, President Obama’s speech, which he delivered back in Sept. 2014, is of utmost importance where he said that it will take time to eradicate a cancer like ISIL? He said that he wanted the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said it will not involve American combat troops fighting on a foreign soil. Obama adds this counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partners’ forces on the ground. It means in the fight against Daesh, the US will only rely on the use of air power while leaving the responsibility of battle on the ground to partner’s forces. As the US has close to 10,000 troops in Afghanistan following the end of combat mission at the beginning of the year, Washington has already announced plans to draw the number down to 5,500 by the end of this year. The drawdown means too many things for Afghanistan. For Afghanistan, it means decline in international aid—both civil and military. It also means the US out from here and get involved in Syria, Iraq and the entire Arab peninsula to protect Israel—a state in which the US has huge stakes. The US at no cost would tolerate to see Israel being encircled by Daesh—though Daesh has by this day not dared to wage verbal war on Israel let alone carrying out attacks. Sensing this change in international mood, Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, called on Obama to re-examine troop commitments. Ghani’s plea needs attention by international key players as Afghanistan is an unaccomplished mission yet, which cannot be left at this stage. Currently, it is not in a state of paralysis, but not fully healthy as well. Many policymakers in the United States are cognizant about it but given that situation become worse in the Arab Peninsula, America may keep Afghanistan on backburner. Should this happen and it will be a disastrous day for the people of Afghanistan who have long been suffering from the war and grinding poverty. They have sustained unprecedented miseries in a dream that one day their homeland will be terror-free. If this longing of the people doesn’t meet reality, it would be meant that the US not only betrayed Kabul but slaughtered millions of Afghans just for its own political designs under the façade of human rights, reconstruction, democracy, and education.
