Taliban fooled US with Doha talks, used window to shore up military with Pakistan’s aid, says Amrullah Saleh

Amrullah Saleh. Image courtesy FishInWater/Wikimedia Commons

Several top officials from the ousted Western-backed government have gathered in a mountain valley north of Kabul, vowed to resist the Taliban in a remote region that has defied conquerors before. They include Afghanistan’s acting president Amrullah Saleh, who was formerly the vice president in the West-backed government but claimed the stakes after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

Saleh, who has long been a part of the struggle against the Taliban, said that the current situation in Afghanistan was not a win for Taliban but the result of a political misjudgment on part of the US.

Operating from the impregnable and remote Panjshir Valley, Saleh vowed to keep up the fight of resistance against Taliban.

Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Saleh also squarely blamed Pakistan for helping the Taliban fool the international community by participating in Doha talks, while using that time to shore up military powers. Here are the edited excerpts:

Did you expect the collapse of the Afghan state to happen in the manner it did? And what is your impression of the manner in which Ashraf Ghani left?

I don’t think this is the right time to reflect on that massive tragedy

Who do you blame for the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and why? What do you think will be the ramifications; will Afghanistan become a breeding ground for terror?

It’s very clear, the Taliban were never under pressure, they used Pakistan as their support base. They were not just having sanctuaries there but the whole of Pakistan was under the service of the Taliban. The US tried to incentivise the Pakistani corporation, to buy it, but the more they paid the more it emboldened the Pakistanis to support the Taliban tacitly. So, the issue of a nuclear state sponsoring terrorism and insurgency against western allies in afghan state was never addressed.

The second reason is that Doha talks legitimised the Taliban and the Taliban did not remain loyal to their words. They did not honour their commitment and they fooled the entire international community. The purpose of the Doha office was to keep the international community divided, keep them hopeful for a peaceful process that did not exist. Meanwhile, they were investing in military conquest and the Pakistanis were backing them wholeheartedly.

The third reason is that in the last 2 years the republic came under enormous pressure from our American allies, they blackmailed us and said that either you release the prisoners or we will cut aid to you and decrease our military assistance. We said that are you sure that these people will not end up at the frontlines and their answer was no, but in the end they all did end up there at frontlines. So it was not a release of prisoners but gifting of highly radicalised fighters to the Taliban.

The fourth reason is that there were people in our government who were not aware of the situation and were taking everything for granted. But we cannot confine it to these four reasons; there are various other reasons which led to this tragedy.

The bottom line is that NATO is gone, US military is gone, but the Afghan people have not gone…they could not be evacuated. Kabul airport is the tip of an iceberg. The country has sunken to tragedy and terrorists groups have taken over Afghanistan. Today, for example, a money launderer who was facilitating transactions between Al-Qaeda sympathisers and Taliban has become governor of Afghan central bank, Haqqanis are running Kabul…needless to explain who Haqqanis are. This is a shame and betrayal and I don’t want to be a part of that shame and betrayal. We will fight till the enemy believes and come to a conclusion that Afghanistan should remain Afghanistan and not become Talibanistan.

What do you think of the American attitude and behaviour during this episode? Their sudden departure and leaving so many arms and ammunition and reports that all arms and ammunition taken by Pakistan to Quetta.

They are watching what they did. they are seeing how the world media is writing negatively about them. US is a global power, with the mightiest military power and we never wished them bad but this shows that how a single wrong political judgement can humiliate even a superpower. It wasn’t ever about American military or American intelligence ..it was the wrong judgement and they have started to pay the price.

In hindsight, there is no doubt that the US miscalculated the Taliban threat. You were the vice president in Ashraf Ghani’s administration. Why couldn’t your officials assess what was happening on the ground?

If a superpower decides to go this way or that way, there is so little or nothing we could do to change their attitude. I do accept that I have been a major player and a person of significance but did we have any say in US decision? No!

We could not influence their decision. I had been warning them of these kinds of consequences for two years. But they are paying the price now. This was a political decision, not a military or intelligence one.. one political misjudgment by US has brought this situation in Afghanistan today. It wasn’t the Taliban who won this war, it was the lack of a political will in Washington that led to this.

To begin with, what is the security situation at the Panjshir Valley, where you and Ahmad Massoud are leading an armed resistance against the Taliban? There are reports that the Taliban have sent hundreds of fighters to the Valley

It’s perfect. we are in control of the situation..I move around with minimum security… It’s an area which has an exceptional reputation.