Summary
On Wednesday, May 8, 2019, Taliban militants attacked the U.S. Aid Group Office in Kabul, Afghanistan. Right before noon, there was a car bomb that let off in front of the building, this allowed four gunmen to invade the Aid Office and kill many employees. There were 5 recorded deaths, all being American, 24 wounded, and other employees in the building who were working for the Humanitarian Non-profit Care Organization that were killed as well. Many believe that this was a direct response to the U.S. peace talks with Afghanistan.
Atiqullah Amarkhel, a retired Afghanistan general, believes that the Taliban did this to establish that, "they are the leader of the peace talks and the Americans should listen to them and accept their demands." The Taliban has made it very clear that they if the U.S. doesn't wish anymore conflict or bloodshed then there needs to be a complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban declared on many occasions that they will not proceed any peace talks unless the U.S. decides to comply with their demands.
My initial response was so that I was very upset which is where I remain to stand at this moment. There is absolutely no justification to this tragedy. This is especially such an extreme response to the peace talks. I understand both sides of this situation however, this violence should've never been seen as some sort of solution to the U.S. leaving Afghanistan alone. If anything, this only proves to the U.S. that Afghanistan continues to endanger their civilians and should be offered aid from the U.S. Also, seeing that they're ran by the Taliban, with a very violent reputation, this prompts the U.S. to involve themselves rather than be a bystander knowing that Afghanistan's citizens are in a complete danger zone without any help that would be provided. Although, I do feel that there should be some sort of support system for these citizens, I can also see how the Taliban and the Afghanistan Government feel dominated over in the peace talks. The U.S. hasn't even reduced the number of troops in Afghanistan which seems obviously very threatening to the Afghanistan Government as well as the Taliban. I, again, feel that they should've communicated this non-violently such as a conference of course as opposed to killing innocent people.
Connection
This connects to the Israel- Palestinian Conflict Unit. Israelis and Palestinians lived through the peace process that's been going on for almost 50 years and still haven't resolved many conflicts or achieved any peace. This relates to this event because the attack was in direct relation to the peace talks that have taken place with U.S. and Afghanistan since 2001 to establish a middle ground agreement and eventually peace. In both of these conflicts. one country wants something to receive something in return. Afghanistan wants the withdrawl or reduction of U.S. troops and in return, there'll be peace, and in the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict, the people of Palestine and Israel want to own the settlements and land in return for peace. Until someone gives up something in both of these situations, there will not be peace.
Questions
1) Do you think there will ever be any peace amongst Afghanistan and The U.S. as long as there is American Troops stationed in Afghanistan?
2) What can be an alternative solution to avoid any more violence?
3) Do you think that the situation will eventually escalate if the American Troops remain in Afghanistan, and to what extent?
Peace will never truly occur while the United States has army members actively stationed in Afghanistan. I think that it's difficult for a country to feel empowered and true if another country has military components stationed inside of it. As long as the Taliban has decent control over Afghanistan, there will be no peace due to the restless and un-peaceful tactics of the Taliban. In my opinion, one reason why the Taliban's anger is somewhat justified is because the United States sometimes feels like we have to solve everyone's problems. A less direct approach may be a better idea, as it would slowly shovel the responsibility to the native government from the US. Ideally, US troops would come back as soon as they could, but the peace talks are not offering much substance. However, some is better than none: Al Jazeera reported that there has been "some progress" to the peace talks, and that overall they were "positive and constructive." That's a good sign, considering that the US plans to (again, ideally) pull all US troops out of Afghanistan by this time in 2024.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/us/politics/afghanistan-military-withdrawal.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/taliban-talks-doha-progress-taliban-190509150545009.html
I agree that peace will be difficult while US troops remain active in Afghanistan. There is no forgiving the terror attacks on an establishment meant to help the people of Afghanistan; however, the US needs to rethink their aid operations, and think about the safety of US and Afghanistan citizens. If US aid groups means more terrorist attacks, than they are doing more harm than help. The US is doing more harm than help in Afghanistan, and there is no need for the US to have anything other than neutrality with Afghanistan, which can be accomplished by removing troops from the country. The conflict in Afghanistan is similar to the Arab Israeli conflict because it involves different groups of people fighting over the same piece of land. The problems in the country are not a concern of the US, and aside from safely offering aid to the people, America has no need to further the violence in the country.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous responses- peace will never be possible while US troops remain in Afghanistan. The Afghan war has been going on for eighteen years and it started with US intervention. The Afghan army with the aid of the US has made no forward progress against the Taliban- they actually seem to be moving in the wrong direction as the Taliban army is gaining territory and power. The Taliban has also made it very clear with their actions (including this specific attack) and their stubborn denial that any peaceful end to the war in terms of the US’s involvement is never going to happen. The Taliban criticize the US’ partiality regarding foreign intervention, as well as many other nations also look down on the US’ international meddling alongside the Taliban. Yet, the US continues sacrificing lives, money and more for this war as the fear of the consequences and destruction that may come if the US does removes themselves from the war is greater than all the pain and controversy it has already brought and will continue to bring if the US remains involved.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note- One thing I found fascinating is that the Qatar peace talks this article mentioned involved representatives from only the US and the Taliban. This is literally the Afghanistan war, yet it seems that the US is controlling the entire conflict on Afghanistan’s behalf. How will peace ever come in the country if the US’ plan is to find a compromise with the Taliban on behalf of the actual Afghan people and then leave the Afghan people with the consequences. The US seems to have taken away Afghanistan's own say in their conflict.
The US has agreed to remove American and NATO troops from the country. However, peace will not take place within Afghanistan unless if the US or Russia is able to negotiate with the taliban taking the advantage. The only solution to peace is to remove the American troops and negotiate because the taliban can be a very violent and reckless organization, with a history of terrorizing the people of Afghanistan and killing several Afghanistan soldiers. The situation will definitely escalate if the American troops remain in Afghanistan. However, the real problem is not the Taliban’s actions, but Russia’s. According to https://www.rferl.org/a/explainer-afghan-peace-process-two-tracks/29757472.html, “Analysts say the talks have given Russia the chance to burnish perceptions of Moscow's global significance while dealing a fresh blow to Western influence. Ruttig says Moscow's role is another assertion that it is "back in the strategic game." This is connected to the ongoing cold war between Russia and the US. The countries may be trying to create peace just to have more control over the already vulnerable Afghanistan government; after all, without the powerful Taliban army around to cause mayhem, the US and Russian governments are free to spread their governing system ways to Afghanistan.
ReplyDelete(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-attack.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAfghanistan&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=col
US intervention in Afghanistan is seen as unwanted and as trespassing. The US has a reputation of intervening in conflicts that they don’t really need to take part in. In accordance with a few other responses, I also think that there will not likely be peace in Afghanistan as long as there are US soldiers stationed there. The Talibans and other terrorist groups in the Middle East tend to dislike the US for their intervention and many other reasons. The presence of the US army soldiers can jeopardize the safety of their civilians because terrorist groups often don’t put their safety as their first priority. As seen in other conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, US intervention has not been very helpful. The most reasonable solution is for the country’s government to sort something out with these terrorist groups by themselves, without the aid of the US army. In addition, this conflict has nothing to do with the US, yet the US still wastes money, material, manpower, and lives on a matter that doesn’t directly involve the US. In my opinion, if the US army remains in Afghanistan, lives will continue to be lost on both sides, and nothing will be gained. This is somewhat similar to the symbiotic relationship competition, where both parties “lose”. “The most important thing the Taliban want is the exit of all foreign troops from Afghanistan”, according to (http://theconversation.com/how-to-end-afghanistan-war-as-longest-conflict-moves-towards-fragile-peace-116587). Another viable option would be to immediately pull back all US army personnel.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/taliban-talks-peace-afghanistan-190510062940394.html
I think that there would be no more peace between Afghanistan and the US because the US make themselves a target in Afghanistan directly affecting Afghani life. Therefore, I think that the US should withdraw some troops because the more troops there are in the area, the more dangerous life will become for Afghani people. I think the only other alternative besides pulling out troops is to have better security in the country and to bring peace with every group in the country. I think that this situation will escalate in the removal of American troops because they are indirectly putting a target in the backs of the Afghan military. But, if the American troops leave, they must train the Afghan military so that they would be as effective as themselves in countering terrorists.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that US troops are causing more harm than good in Afghanistan. Withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan would be beneficial because the US really has no reason to interfere with this conflict. We need to step back and let Afghanistan resolve their issues and get rid of Taliban violence. The Taliban are not willing to cooperate as long as the US is involved in the situation and the problems in Afghanistan will continue to escalate while the US is there. According to the Charles Kochin Institute, US involvement in Afghanistan has not significantly helped the government, despite that the US government has spent over $100 billion to help the afghan government. The economy in Afghanistan is crashing and the Taliban is taking over more land. This means that the US is wasting their own resources for a cause that is, in the end, creating more tension.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.charleskochinstitute.org/blog/reasons-withdraw-afghanistan/
One major thing for the US to consider in this case is proportionality. Is the peace that the US hopes to ensure by eliminating terrorists from the region worth the chaos and violence that has occurred since the war began 18 years ago? 2,372 US soldiers have died since the start of the war, a fragment of the 31,000 Afghan civilian war-related casualties. Preventing terrorism is a much more complex issue than simply choosing to stay or withdraw, but the US must weigh the consequences of the harm happening in the present in addition to the events that may take place if they leave.
ReplyDeletehttps://dod.defense.gov/News/Casualty-Status/ https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2016/War%20in%20Afghanistan%20and%20Pakistan%20UPDATE_FINAL_corrected%20date.pdf
I personally would never rule out peace between any two countries. While peace does seem pretty unlikely to happen soon, peace talks between the two countries is a very encouraging sign. This means that while peace may not be something that comes immediately, it is on the minds of both countries and is something that both countries would like to establish sooner rather than later. While talks between the two governments may have been a motive for the attack, these talks are something that need to continue and will benefit both countries in the long run. They should, however, try to possibly keep these talks more behind closed doors so they don't risk angering groups like Taliban. I definitely believe that this situation could escalate, but only because of the unpredictability of terrorist groups like the Taliban. They are impossibly hard to predict and can be angered over the slightest of events. It is a very scary prospect to think about but I do believe that overall this would benefit both countries more than it would hurt them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above responses that peace cannot be achieved if US troops remain in Afghanistan. By stationing their military inside Afghanistan, the US is invading their sense of independency and power. And especially because their aid groups have risen the terror attacks, I think the US should step back. This is just another example of the US causing more problem than there has to be. Instead of trying to be a mediator all of the time, they should avoid this by not getting involved in the first place. This conflict reminds me of a past blog post where President Trump made the decision to recognize the Golan Heights and get involved in the I/P conflict. Overall they are just worsening their relationships with these countries.
ReplyDeleteAs of right now, no, I do not believe there can be peace among the US and Afghanistan if the US continues to hold troops inside of their country. The Taliban threatened the US to stop initiating peace talks and to stay out of their way. Because of the attacks they held today, and many other times before, it's clear that the Taliban is not bluffing, and will definitely continue, or increase the violence if they feel necessary. While I definitely wish the US could step back from the conflict, I also feel they are vital in making sure nothing major happens. I am not extremely informed on this specific topic, but I know that the US military wouldn't go out of its way to send troops to Afghanistan if there weren't a good reason. So, though I wish the Taliban would stop murdering Americans, I do not think that leaving Afghanistan completely without US aid is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand what you're saying. I completely agree. This event is extremely controversial because it's a lot bigger than what we've seen. There's a lot of other factors that play into this issue. For example, the U.S. is not obeying Afghanistan's demands. They are completely avoiding it actually, and not considering that being stationed in a country can be seen as threatening to that country's government of course, which I'm sure the U.S. would see it that way if the situation were reversed. However, Afghanistan has proved itself to be rather dangerous towards its own citizens so these aid offices provide help for those people who have suffered any sort of rath from the Taliban. So it really comes down to what is more important; is it the good relations with Afghanistan or the safety of its people?
DeleteIf there continues to be American troops stationed in Afghanistan then I believe that peace will not be possible. The Taliban are a group dedicated to their ideology and thus I think they would never "succumb" to accepting the Western influence of the U.S. That's why I feel there's not exactly a framework for coexisting peace but specifically for the slow withdrawal of troops which would then lead to hopeful peace. I'm not really sure of any alternate solutions to avoid violence as like I've said, the Taliban are dedicated and I feel the best way is less US involvement. The US does not need to involve itself in what feels like every problem and confrontation. Sometimes less is more. If American troops remain in Afghanistan, then I do believe that the situation will escalate as the sense that attacks like this one will just keep on happening. They may not become more and more elaborate and even more damage, but the frequency of these attacks will still occur and they won't stop.
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