By: Asem Mustafa Awan
Two decades of war have come to an end and the last American soldier after leaving the Afghan soil resulted in a tumultuous moment for the Taliban who after taking control of the last spot, the Kabul airport, offered prayers followed by aerial firing. The war has finally ended and the world now watches the Taliban and Afghanistan in particular which has been the graveyard of not one but three superpowers namely Britain, the Soviet Union, and America.
The clay houses were far cheaper than the bombs that were shed on them and the people lived on the explosives scarp which was more than the combined explosives used in the two World Wars.
What happened in the two decades is a tale that is both horrifying and harrowing how many have been killed the exact count will never be there, the wounded and displaced if accounted, the count goes in millions.
America a superpower was shattered by the Taliban who refused to bow down to the demands which were against the established norms they believed in. President Bush when attacking Afghanistan used the word ‘Crusade’ which was later admitted as a slip of tongue but the two decades of the war have left no stone unturned particularly by the prejudiced western media that portrayed Islam and Muslims as barbarians.
The derogatory portrayal of the Muslims followed by studies that were conducted to gauge Muslim response in terms of blasphemous cartoons, ban on Hijab and many other laws that targeted Islamic values are all not a thing of the past.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said “We are Alhamdolillah free” the moment the US airplane took off.
The role of the United Nations, in particular, has been very disappointing as it failed to stand up on the occasion and now for face-saving is now doing the needful which was needed two decades ago. The US troops while leaving have made many of the military hardware unserviceable as the thought of having their precious equipment in the hands of the Taliban was a nightmare.
The conduct of the war in the holy scripture (Quran) states very clearly that only armed combatants should be fought with while women, children and old are exempted from the fight and at the same time burning of crops, poisoning the water source and cutting the trees is prohibited and these established norms in combat were somehow overlooked by the US and its allies.
Children in seminaries were bombed resulting in not one or two but by hundreds and a tale of tyranny was from one end to the other without a thought as the United States of America wanted to settle scores with the poorest of nations who dared to defy its command.
How it has ended is another story as the valiant Taliban dug deep and never lost hope as they had the belief that they will win and they won and the world now witnesses the withdrawal of third superpower who dared to cross paths in Afghanistan.
The writer is a special correspondent at The Dayspring
