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Why is America Failing in Afghanistan?

- DR. Abdul-Qayum Mohmand

Analysis of “CIA World Factbook” (1981-2012): Dimensions of anti-Pashtun Conspirac

Afghan Fury at Planned Pakistan Pact
What Happens When the U.S. Leaves Afghanistan?
Trying to leave Afghanistan proves to be as troublesome as being there: A Closer Look
Afghanistan: “It’s Just Damage Limitation Now”
Zero Dark Thirty Review-Analysis; Eleven Instances of Disinformation
Why is America Failing in Afghanistan?
 
 
 
US forces in Afghanistan nearly destroyed vital airfield
We Are Those Two Afghan Children, Killed by NATO While Tending Their Cattle
Former Islamist Warlord Vies for Afghan Presidency
Pakistan releases top Afghan Taliban prisoner in effort to boost peace process
Losing the War in Afghanistan
Obama’s troop increase for Afghan war was misdirected
Afghan security vacuum feared along "gateway to Kabul"
Objections to U.S. Troops Intensify in Afghanistan
The Great Afghan corruption scam
War zone killing: Vets feel 'alone' in their guilt
Was Osama for Real? And Was He Killed in 2001?
Afghanistan withdrawal: The risks of retreat
The Real Reason the US Invaded Afghanistan
The Definition of a Quagmire
Huge Uncertainty' in Afghanistan
Controversial ID Cards Expose Ethnic Divisions In Afghanistan
Afghanistan: The Final Curtain Call for NATO?
Afghanistan After 9/11: A Mission Unaccomplished
Why Should Taliban and Other Insurgents Refrain from Negotiation With the US & NATO? By: Dr Mohammed Daud Miraki, MA, MA, Ph

Exclusive: Karzai family looks to extend boss rule in Afghanistan.

Intrigue in Karzai Family as an Afghan Era Closes
For Afghans, Two Outrages, Two Different Reactions
Double blow to west’s Afghan strategy
Does the Taliban need a diplomatic voice?
Afghanistan: Lessons in War and Peace-building for US
Afghan women opposed by former allies
Q+A - Haqqani: From White House guest to staunch U.S. enemy
Haqqanis: Growth of a militant network -BBC
Afghanistan shelves plans for ambassador accused of fraud
Afghan nominated as ambassador to Britain was accused in US of fraud
U.S. deal with Taliban breaks down
The Loneliness of the Afghan President: Karzai on His Own

NATO's Third Alternative in Afghanistan

On the Road: Interview with Commander Abdul Haq:- The Tragedy of Abdul Haq
When the Lion Roared: How Abdul Haq Almost Saved Afghanistan
AFGHAN WARRIOR: THE LIFE & DEATH OF ABDUL HAQ
Pakistan’s ISI: Undermining Afghan self-determination since 1948
Mineral Wealth of Afghanistan, Military Occupation, Corruption and the Rights of the Afghan People
M. Siddieq Noorzoy
Why Isn’t the UN Investigating and Prosecuting the U.S. and NATO for War Crimes Committed in Afghanistan?
Corruption and Warlordism:
Abdul Basir Stanikzai
In Afghanistan, U.S. contracts aren’t crystal balls, but they come close
The great Afghan carve-up
Anatomy of an Afghan war tragedy
Terry Jones Actually Burns a Qur’an and No One Notices
Q+A-Are Afghan forces ready to take over security?
Guantánamo Bay files rewrite the story of Osama bin Laden's Tora Bora escape
Winning Afghan hearts, minds with explosives
Afghanistan’s Mercenaries
KABUL’S HORIZONS
Who is winning Afghanistan war? U.S. officials increasingly disagree
Afghanistan: The Trouble With The Transition
From the Archives: In Quest of a ‘Greater Tajikistan’
The 1980s mujahideen, the Taliban and the shifting idea of jihad
Afghanistan's Karzai complains about interference
Karzai, US ambassador at odds over private security

Karzai Tells Washington Post U.S. Should Reduce Afghan Operation Intensity

Excerpts from Afghan President Hamid Karzai's interview with The Washington Post
What the Afghans Want
New US approach to Afghanistan insurgency: Vindication for Pakistan?
Putting Some Fight Into Our Friends
Afghans 'abused at secret prison
Why We Won’t Leave Afghanistan or Iraq
Indo-Pakistan proxy war heats up in Afghanistan
Canada’s elite commandos and the invasion of Afghanistan
U.S. retreat from Afghan valley marks recognition of blunder
Five myths about the war in Afghanistan
Marine who resigned over ‘conscience’ speaks at MU
The Afghan media may have grown since Taliban rule ended, but not so press freedoms
Mystery holes and angry ants: another Afghan day
Kabul Bank's Sherkhan Farnood feeds crony capitalism in Afghanistan
Marjah War
Operation Moshtarak: Which way the war in Afghanistan?
Q&A: Why Marjah, why now?
In Jalalabad, hope is fading
Seeking reconciliation, US units meet remote Afghanistan tribes
Once Again, Get the Hell Out! "Ending the War in Afghanistan"
Blackwater Kept a Prostitute on the Payroll in Afghanistan; Fraudulently Billed American Tax Payers
Wild West Motif Lightens US Mood at Afghan Bas
In southern Afghanistan, even the small gains get noticed
 Afghanistan war: US tries to undercut Taliban at tribal level
 Soviet lessons from Afghanistan
Are actions of 'super-tribe' an Afghan tipping point
Taliban: Terrorist or not? Not always easy to say
Q&A: Who else could help in Afghanistan?
Vietnam Replay on Afghan 'Defectors'
Washington's Refusal to Talk about Drone Strikes in Pakistan Meets Growing Opposition
Afghanistan summit: Why is the US backing talks with the Taliban?
Taliban's leadership council runs Afghan war from Pakistan
Why buy the Taliban?
2 Afghanistan conferences: No solutions
An Alternative to Endless War - Negotiating an Afghan Agreement?
Do the Taliban represent the Pashtuns?
Afghanistan asks ex-presidential contender to tackle corruption

Tehran Sets Conditions For Attending London Conference On Afghanista

Pakistan says reaches out to Afghan Taliban
Taking It to the Taliban
The Afghan Taliban's top leaders
How significant is Mullah Baradar's arrest?
Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban’s Top Commander
What's the Quetta Shura Taliban and why does it matter?
What's behind latest Taliban attack on Kabul? See Images of the Attack By WSJ

Pakistan Version of Islam and Taliban ?????
Lahore fashion week takes on Talibanization in Pakistan

Loyalties of Those Killed in Afghan Raid Remain Unclear

After Attack, Afghans Question Motives or See Conspiracies
Gates: Taliban part of Afghan ‘political fabric’

IG: Afghan power-plant project ill-conceived, mismanaged

Taliban intensifies Afghan PR campaign

Taliban Overhaul Their Image in Bid to Win Allies
Karzai plans to woo Taliban with 'land, work and pensions'
Peace scheme mooted for Taliban
Bombs and baksheesh
But By All Means, Continue the Happy Talk on the Afghanistan War
Karzai Closing in on Taliban Reconciliation Plan
Last Exit Kabul
How To Get Out Without Forsaking Afghanistan's Stability
Afghan Recovery Report: Taleban Buying Guns From Former Warlords

'Jesus Guns': Two More Countries Rethink Using Weapons with Secret Bible References

Gun bible quotes 'inappropriate'
Text of Joint declaration of Afghanistan-Iran-Pakistan trilateral meeting
Garmsir Protest Shows Taleban Reach
Rugged North Waziristan harbors US enemies
The Arrogance of Empire, Detailed ( The Untold Story of Afghanistan )
Appointment of Afghan counter narcotics chief dismays British officials
In Afghanistan attack, CIA fell victim to series of miscalculations about informant
Rebuilding Afghanistan: Will government take hold in this post-Taliban town?
Rare bird discovered in Afghan mountains
Blackwater, now called Xe, in running for work in Afghanistan despite legal woes
How Soviet troops stormed Kabul palace
Afghan children 'die in fighting'
Afghanistan war: Russian vets look back on their experience
U.N. Officials Say American Offered Plan to Replace Karzai 
Learning From the Soviets
U.S. faults Afghan corruption body's independence
Intensify fight against corruption, says Afghan meeting
Afghan ministers cleared of charges
Drone aircraft in a stepped-up war in Afghanistan and Pakistan
U.S. Air Force Confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' Secret Stealth Drone Plane
Kissinger's fantasy is Obama's realit
Taliban shadow officials offer concrete alternative
Talking with the Taliban
20. Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart
'Yes, there was torture and people were certainly beaten': Afghan warden
Why we should leave Afghanistan
US pours millions into anti-Taliban militias in Afghanistan
Pakistan to US: Don't surge in Afghanistan, talk to Taliban
A Plan C for Afghanistan
Finding decent cabinet is Karzai's big challenge
A way to get around Karzai in Afghanistan
Corruption fight boosted by 'Afghan FBI'
US demands Afghan 'bribery court'
Afghanistan plans court for corrupt ministers
The man leading Afghanistan's anti-corruption fight
Win hearts and minds in Afghanistan to win the war
Gates blocks abuse photos release
New U.S. Afghan prison unveiled, rights groups wary
War in Afghanistan: Not in our name
How the US Funds the Taliban
Afghan gov't says UN representative out of line
Cabinet of Warlords
Afghanistan and the lessons of history
Clinton says Karzai ‘must do better’
Recognizing the Limits of American Power in Afghanistan
After Afghanistan election, governors seek distance from 'illegal' Karzai
Karzai was hellbent on victory. Afghans will pay the price
Matthew Hoh: Please refute what I'm saying, we are stuck in the Afghan civil war
As US looks for exit in Afghanistan, China digs in
America's Top Diplomat Tells 'Nightline': 'Not Every Taliban Is al Qaeda'
Obama Can’t Make Russian Mistake in Afghanistan
10 Steps to Victory in Afghanistan
Will Obama change Afghan strategy?
Does the U.S. still have a vital interest in Afghanistan?
Pashtuns and Pakistani
The Afghan '80s are back
Pashtun peace prophet goes global
Afghan Road Builder's Dream Thwarted by Violence
A white elephant in Kabul
The Afghan Runoff: Will It Be a No-Show Election?

Ashraf Ghani- Afghanistan's Disputed Election Complicates U.S. Strategy

On Assignment: Into the Maw at Marja

Patrick Witty & Tyler Hicks
The New York Times


Afghanistan Cross Road CNN


The last frontier


Bruce Richardson
 

Articles

CIA: Buying peace in Afghanistan?

With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan
CIA Ghost Money: Karzai Confirms U.S. Gives Funds To Afghan National Security Team
What the CIA’s cash has bought for Afghanistan

Khalilzad: A Satan Whispering in the Hearts of Men
The Afghan trust deficitt
Will We Learn Anything from Afghanistan? Part 1
Getting Out of Afghanistan: Part 2
William R. Polk
General’s Defense on Afghan Scandal Ducks Key Evidence
Afghans want Taliban peace talks
Bombing Weddings in Afghanistan: It Couldn't Happen Here, It Does Happen There
Hekmatyar's never-ending Afghan war
Covert American Aid to the Afghan Resistance; A Top-Secret U.S. Foreign Policy Plot to Induce and Effect Soviet Military Intervention
Afghan brain drain fears as Karzai urges education reforms

US considers launching joint US-Afghan raids in Pakistan to hunt down militant groups

Real security in Afghanistan depends on people's basic needs being met
Intractable Afghan Graft Hampering U.S. Strategy
Former Taliban Officials Say U.S. Talks Started
Taliban ready for talks with US, not Karzai government
Emboldened Taliban Try to Sell Softer Image
Leaked NATO Report Shows Pakistan Support For Taliban
Insight: Few options for Afghan, U.S. leaders after Kandahar massacre
Presenter: Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta and Daoud Sultanzoy, Tolo Television
NATO’s measured exit plan in Afghanistan faces new obstacles
BFP Exclusive: Karzai Clan Attorney Threatens US Journalist, Uses Intimidation Tactics
Afghanistan Chronicles
Arduous path to Afghan 'end-game'
Fear in the classrooms: is the Taliban poisoning Afghanistan's schoolgirls?
A comment on the recent events of student poisoning in Afghanistan
Rape Case, in Public, Cites Abuse by Armed Groups in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s Peace Talks Hit Brick Wall
THE ANATOMY OF US’S DEFEAT IN AFGHANISTAN
VOICES OF EMPIRE: FROM CIA’s CULTURAL GREAT GAME TO GLOBAL GREAT GAME TODAY
WHITE PAPER FOR THE PERMANENT PEACE IN AFGHANISTAN
King Karzai
A Federal System of Government is Not Suitable for Afghanistan
CHINA AMO DARYA OIL DEAL
Analysis: Where Afghan humanitarianism ends and development begins
U.S. Envoy: Kabulbank Was 'Vast Looting Scheme'
Speaking with the enemy: how US commanders fight the Taliban during the day and dine with them at night
Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Musery
How to Win Peace in Afghanistan
For Karzai, Stumbles On Road To Election
Cruel human toll of fight to win Afghan peace
Criticism of Afghan War Is on the Rise in Britain
Troops 'fighting for UK's future'
Operation in Taliban hotbed a test for revamped U.S. strategy
Covering Crucial Afghanistan Operation
Afghans still skeptical about Obama
US Defence Department struggling with public release of report on bombing in Afghanistan
Afghanistan on the Edge
Q+A: Who are the Pakistani Taliban insurgents?
Afghanistan Past & Present
Bombs for Pashtoons and Dollars for Punjab
Help! I'm being outgunned on K Street!
ANGELS CHASING DEMONS: “Jesus Killed Mohammad”!
U.S. tested 2 Afghan scenarios in war game
America's Top Diplomat Tells 'Nightline': 'Not Every Taliban Is al Qaeda'
Obama hearing range of views on Afghanistan
What Do Afghans Want? Withdrawal - But Not Too Fast - and A Negotiated Peace
Will Obama change Afghan strategy?
What Do Afghans Want? Withdrawal - But Not Too Fast - and A Negotiated Peace
Afghans tricked into U.S. trip, detained
In the Afghan War, Aim for the Middle
Obama pulled two ways in Afghanistan
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10 Steps to Victory in Afghanistan
Gates: Mistake to set time line for Afghan withdrawal
Afghans question what democracy has done for them
High stakes in Afghan vote recount
Two Perspectives On Resolving The Afghan Postelection Crisis
Does the U.S. still have a vital interest in Afghanistan?
Pashtuns and Pakistanis
The Afghan '80s are back
How to Lose in Afghanistan
US in Afghanistan proposes revamped strategy
US 'needs fresh Afghan strategy'
US looks to Vietnam for Afghan tips
Lessons from Vietnam on Afghanistan
Afghan Pres. Skips Country's 1st TV Debate
A proud moment for Afghanistan
Rival to Karzai Gains Strength in Afghan Presidential Election
Afghan presidential candidate withdraws in Karzai's favor
America and international law
Hamid Karzai pulls out of historic TV debate just hours before broadcast
Karzai says no to first Afghanpresidential debate
Afghan election: Can Karzai's rivals close the gap?
Karzai opponents hope to beat him in second round
Afghanistan's Election Challenges
For Karzai, Stumbles On Road To Election
Pentagon Seeks to Overhaul Prisons in Afghanistan
Cruel human toll of fight to win Afghan peace
Karzai’s gimmick
Well-known traffickers set free ahead of election
US president sets Afghan target
U.S. Inaction Seen After Taliban P.O.W.’s Died
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Earn our trust or go, Afghans tell GIs
The Irresistible Illusion
Running Out Of Options, Afghans Pay For an Exit
We've lost sight of our goal in Afghanistan
$2,000 for a dead Afghan Child, $100,000 for Any American Who Died Killing it
The strategy is sound – but success is not assured
Operation in Taliban hotbed a test for revamped U.S. strategy
Covering Crucial Afghanistan Operation
Pentagon Seeks to Overhaul Prisons in Afghanistan
Echoes of Vietnam
A Response To General Dostum
Obama orders probe of killings in Afghanistan
Obama admin: No grounds to probe Afghan war crimes
US president sets Afghan target
U.S. Inaction Seen After Taliban P.O.W.’s Died
Afghanistan's Election Challenges
The Irresistible Illusion
Earn our trust or go, Afghans tell GIs
Running Out Of Options, Afghans Pay For an Exit

We've lost sight of our goal in Afghanistan

The strategy is sound – but success is not assured
Stakes High in Afghanistan Ahead of August Elections
$2,000 for a dead Afghan Child, $100,000 for Any American Who Died Killing it
Ex-detainees allege Bagram abuse
Petraeus Is a Failure -- Why Do We Pretend He's Been a Success?
Fierce Battles and High Casualties on the Frontlines of Afghanistan
End the Illegal, Immoral and Wasted War in Afghanistan, says BNP Defence Spokesman
Outside View: Four revolutions
Pakistan's Plans for New Fight Stir Concern
France: liberty, equality, and fraternity – but no burqas
 

 

 

 

 

Echoes of Vietnam

Even the Coalition commanders in Afghanistan wonder if they can win the war
Will history repeat itself in Afghanistan?

British military intervention in Afghanistan has a chequered history, making it easy to conclude that British forces will fail again


 


A Federal System of Government is Not Suitable for Afghanistan
Source: M. Siddieq Noorzoy By:   January 24, 2012


Afghanistan has had nearly all forms of governments for the past several decades from a kingdom, to a republic, to communist dictatorship, to mujahideen coalition, to an Islamic centralist, and to more or less another republic form of government lately. These governments have had various degrees of successes and failures in meeting the needs of good governance in Afghanistan. This field is actually in need of extensive research to find out the actual areas of successes and failures by each form of government. That would be useful, per se, but, it would be good to find out what worked well and what did not for the country. For example, it would be good to find out which form of government had the most support among the people and the reasons for the support. However, all these forms of government have had one structure in common, viz., the center of all decisions for running the affairs of Afghanistan was Kabul, and not the provinces each going its own way. For if that were the case the country would have experienced total disintegration long ago. When a central government is explained on paper as ‘strong’, but, is in fact is weak and corrupt, then clearly some of the issues directed at any ineffective government gains more weight. The present regime in Kabul is afflicted with such a description more due to the character of the individuals serving in it than the structure of the government per se.

Afghanistan is mostly rural with 80% of the population living in perhaps more than 25,000 villages. Both of these are estimates, no comprehensive census has appeared since the one released in 1979. The people are conservative Muslims with not only strong believes in Islam ( Sunni or Shia) , but, in the traditional cultural values of the society. It is a fact of history that two opposing superpowers with different political, ideological and economic systems invaded Afghanistan, each trying to transform this mostly rural society in its own image using every weapon in their arsenals killing tens of thousands of Afghans and finally failing after a decade of fighting. The transformation of Afghanistan actually went inward with stronger appeals to Islamic principles and traditional values. At the same time, each superpower will have left many problems due to their imposed wars and occupation first in the form of pathetic communists who have come back to Kabul to try their return to power through elections if they can find support among those who might not know their crimes, and the second set of problems consisting of dishonest millionaires with villas in Dubai or several houses in several countries gained through their criminal activities brought by the second invasion. The mentioning of these is important in the political make of Afghanistan, especially when uninformed foreign politicians middle in the affairs of the country. These are but a few of the problems Afghanistan inherited from the invasions. However, the Afghan society at large has survived and will do what it has done through several millennia being close to their Creator and to the land they cherish. Afghanistan needs a strong central government that functions under Islamic laws ( Shariat) and also draws from common domestic and international laws that are not in conflict with Islamic laws and the requirements for a just and growing society ; for the future belongs to the Muslim youth of Afghanistan who make up more than fifty percent of the society.

Yet, in all these decades the total concentration of all decisions in the capitol Kabul if carried out without the knowledge of the needs and wishes of the people in different areas of Afghanistan has had its own drawbacks, especially during the planning eras. This is why I have argued since a review of the First Seven Year Plan published in Afghanistan Journal, Graz, Austria in 1979 that planners need to obtain information both about the needs and the potential resources available throughout the country to formulate sensible plans for development. The same argument was also applied for post –war reconstruction of Afghanistan which was first discussed in a seminar paper in 1989 presented at the Operation Salam meeting (UN organized affair) during May 1989 in Geneva in the post Soviet troop withdrawal of February 1989. One of the reasons for the failure of reconstruction in Afghanistan in the post US led invasion of 2001 is that the installed regime did not have a team to carry out comprehensive survey for the reconstruction requirements before discussing funding. The US led coalition, including the major world institutions such as the World Bank, UNDP, IMF and others also failed in this respect. Many have argued that all the talk about post war reconstruction beginning with George Bush during the 2001-2002 years was simply to gain the support of the Afghan people for the invasion and occupation, and they were not intended to be carry out at any rate. The onus falls on the invading governments and the above institutions proving that they really meant it, but, there were x, y and z obstacles as reasons for failure. When we see small children barely covered from the cold of the winter living in plastic tents right in Kabul while the groups of invading personnel come and go in Kabul and the UN and other institutions gather at conferences in different parts of the world and even have the gumption to talk about their successes in Afghanistan, the only thing that can cross one’s mind is to ask what planet do they come from?

Rejecting Federalism in Afghanistan

A successful system of governance under a federal structure requires the existence of a fully integrated society and economy in order to be stable and grow under this type of structure without creating distortions and injustice to any segment of a country and its society. Some American lawmakers and Afghan warlords have argued that the federal system of governance practiced in the US can be applied in Afghanistan. For Afghanistan, the US is not a good example of a federal system if one looks at the origins of the concept from the beginning and the reasons for its functioning. The US established a federal structure of government for two basic reasons: opposition to the King of England and the prevailing system from which the 13 colonies wanted to separate and did so in 1776 by the Declaration of Independence and the fact that some states were practicing slavery and others were opposed to slavery. Thus, the concept of providing a framework for legislating federal laws by the central government and laws passed by state legislations and city councils became the evolving structure which continues to define the boundaries of who can do what to run the affairs of the country and the society. What we observe in the United States of America for the service to the people and the institutions that people have built and for the functioning of the economy are the presence of well integrated means of national mobility for all entities through the transportation and communication systems, and through the financial institutions. People, businesses , organizations, move without obstacles from laws passed by each levels of government. There are clear delineations of authority and legislation in the US. For example, all international affairs, treaties, declaration of wars and peace, trade agreements, etc. belong to the authority of the federal government. The states can pass their own laws such as the law California has passed on pollution which is more strict than the federal law. The tassel between federal and states’ rights to legislate on the same issues has been on going and in fact the Civil War was fought on the issue of slavery for this reason. The federal systems works well in the US partly because aside from the Civil War of 1860-1864 the issues have been resolved over centuries and decades; although many times the issue of states’ rights continue to be raised in the areas of redistricting, civil rights, healthcare and many other areas. There is much common among all 50 states than uncommon and there is much common between the State Assemblies and the Congress. The court system works well throughout the country applying laws because of federal laws which supersede state laws.

Now, which one of these conditions is comparable with what exists in Afghanistan? For a country under occupation for more than a decade by the armies from 50 countries, one that has been put under the grips of criminal warlords and the worst of the society brought back by the foreign occupation forces to support their presence especially in the north and central areas of the country and one that has gone through more than three decades of invasions and civil wars when its society has been hugely dislocated and its economy has seen large scale destruction and disintegration and when there are still 3.5 million refugees in the neighboring countries, to propose a federal system of government is not only unsuitable, but, reflects ignorance of the facts. The deep seated scars among the people and the economy cannot be healed by a fractured and dysfunction federal system under the above kinds of conditions to bring peace, reconciliation and harmony in the performance of the functions of governance and the economy. Those who proposed such a system at a conference in Berlin on January 8, 2012 at the gathering of several members of the US House of Representatives and a handful of Afghans who are well known for their misdeeds and crimes among the Afghan people simply ignored the requirements of a federal system and the prevailing facts on the ground in Afghanistan.
The conference in Berlin was entitled: “ Members of the US House of Representatives in Dialogue with Leaders From Northern, Western and Central Afghanistan”. This gathering indirectly duplicated the failed attempt of the past to divide Afghanistan in to north-south, which was tried in collaboration with the Russians during the war against the Soviet occupation under the code name “Operation Koskad”. Some of the same Afghans or their close associates were involved in that scheme. The scheme to separate several provinces in northern Afghanistan from the rest of the country fortunately failed. There is no doubt that the Afghan people will strongly reject any such attempts from any source, seeing them as acts by enemies of Afghanistan and the Afghan people. Let those who dream of a “new map of the Middle East-cum-Central Asia” be forewarned that the reaction of the Afghan people will be swift and strong against such schemes. The Afghan people want a united Afghanistan under their own control.

The divisive policy supported by several House Representatives was headed by Dana Rohrabacher of California, joined by Loretta Sanchez, California, Louie Gohmert of Texas and Steve King of Iowa. Their final declaration was also signed by Ahmad Zia Massoud, Abdul Rashind Dostum, Mohammad Mohaqiq and Amrullah Saleh along with above these Representatives. There has been much discussion about this event and about the backgrounds of the individual Afghans on the Afghan TV media. Most Afghans consider such individuals as part of the problems plaguing Afghanistan for the past three decades. The Afghan Human Rights Commission has a records of the abuses of ordinary Afghans by these and other warlords that reportedly also supported a federal system. Foreign politicians who are uninformed about events in Afghanistan over the past decade especially should see these reports easily available on the Internet.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXx5td6_IqMAny Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death - Wikipedia, the free ... .wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Massacre:_The_Convoy_of_Death

The real objective of the proposal for a federal system is seen as seeking political control and protection through a regionalized and even localized ‘federal’ system that can be run like fiefdoms for the purpose of retaining what some individuals have gained in wealth and power at the expense of the Afghan people over decades- illegally gathered wealth, forceful seizures of land and large militias and bodyguards and unfortunately supported by foreign governments and uninformed foreign politicians. Some foreign politicians seem to think all these conditions are ok in another country as long as they can sell the distorted policies which these politicians pursue to their uninformed constituents in their own districts. Some of these politicians explain their conduct in supporting such notorious Afghans as “allies” of the US for the failed policies toward Afghanistan. The international community at large must not again fall in the trap of 2001/02 supporting warlords to keep control of Afghanistan.

The participants of the Berlin conference were heavily criticized by the Afghan people and even by the regime of Hamid Karzai and they did not win any favors with the Obama Administration either, for their attempt was to rebuke the peace seeking efforts by the Administration as announced by Vice President Biden and Secretary Hillary Clinton.
It should be recognized that any Balkanization of Afghanistan is a threat to the security and stability of the whole region. The rewriting of the Constitution of Afghanistan to accommodate a federal system of government as suggested by this group will not guarantee the survival of Afghanistan as a united country that has existed since 1747. The presence of ethnically diverse population of the same background all along the borders of Afghanistan congruent with the populations of the neighboring countries, and the presence of self serving corrupt warlords and criminal locals whose interests are in conflict with the central authority in Kabul as observed in recent years Afghanistan are major threats to the survival of Afghanistan as a unified nation under a federally structured form of government.

A letter from Vice President Biden of September 20, 2011 to us explaining US policy in Afghanistan by stating that “…our Administration is following through on our commitment to end our involvement in Afghanistan responsibly” has provided the assurance that the Afghan people are looking for from the Obama Administration. Members of the Afghan communities in North America, Europe and the Middle East and Afghanistan itself, which is an integral part of the families of the Middle Eastern religion and culture to those who fully understands the make up of the history of this area of the world, have interpreted the content of this letter as a policy of ending the war, establishing peace and completing the withdrawal of all US troops and letting all the Afghan people to come together to solve their common problems. Vice President Biden’s letter was published by Dr. Hashemyan in his December 28, 2011 fourth press release.

Many among the Afghan people feel that the legacy of US military presence in Afghanistan by ending its occupation must also leave behind a sovereign, and united Afghanistan in good standing internally and good relations with the international community and the neighbors of Afghanistan.

We hope that the Administration of President Obama will continue to push for comprehensive peace resulting in ending the war in Afghanistan early in 2012 and accommodating the demands of the Afghan and the American people for the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan so that the Afghan people collectively determine their future under final peace and reconciliation. The Afghan people see no need for long term US military presence as advocated by some of the same self serving individual Afghans who advocate a federal system. We are certain the Afghan people want mutually beneficial long term commercial relations with the US under peaceful conditions. We support such a bilateral relation based on mutual benefits to both countries.

 

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