• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Dont Miss

US Support for Warlords Continues to Destabilize Afghanistan

Michael Hughes by Michael Hughes
07/20/17
in Dont Miss, Featured, Middle East
Abdul Rashid Dostum

Abdul Rashid Dostum

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Warlordism grew to new heights in Afghanistan after the CIA channeled around $1 billion to malign actors for their help during the post-9/11 Taliban takedown. To make matters worse, the United States injected more than $100 billion of poorly-supervised reconstruction aid into the Afghan economy, which fueled corruption and bolstered these very same strongmen.

In fact, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) confirmed this in an audit last fall, warning that U.S. military’s financial and political support for warlords threatened the long-term stability of the Afghan state.

“The U.S. government should limit alliances with malign powerbrokers and aim to balance any short-term gains from such relationships against the risk that empowering these actors will lead to systemic corruption,” the SIGAR report said.

The warlords have grown in power both politically and militarily over the past 16 years, with some even occupying senior government positions. At a time when Kabul needs Washington’s help in countering warlords, however, the White House is mulling a strategy that will likely strengthen them.

On July 10, the New York Times reported that senior White House officials were considering an offer from former Blackwater chief Erik Prince to install an American viceroy in Afghanistan to oversee a private army, which experts say might only facilitate the rise of even more warlords.

To Defense Department Chief James Mattis’ credit, he refused to include the viceroy plan as an option in his soon-to-be-released military strategy. However, the Pentagon says it would consider private military units as an option even in light of the risk of fueling warlordism.

“I can tell you CENTCOM has used contractors in many roles in the Global War on Terrorism. Many of them have fulfilled their duties and responsibilities admirably,” CENTCOM spokesperson Major Josh Jacques told The Globe Post. “We will continue to look at a mix of contractors, civilians, coalition and American forces to accomplish the missions across the CENTCOM area of operations.”

Kabul-based writer and political commentator Bilal Nikyar argues, however, that one of the keys to stability in Afghanistan is ensuring that the warlords are neutralized.

“Warlordism is something that was propped up by the U.S. in the first place immediately after 9/11,” Mr. Nikyar told The Globe Post. “They existed before that as well, but they didn’t have the money or power.”

The United States, Mr. Nikyar claimed, provided both money and power to the warlords, allowed them to occupy “all the top positions in the government,” and then the U.S. “turned a blind eye.”

However, Mr. Nikyar also noted that while the U.S. is part of the problem, it can still be part of the solution. The U.S. and its allies in tandem with the Afghan government can marginalize the bad actors while supporting more moderate and democratic political figures.

“Our international partners should send a firm message to all the warlords that they must change their behavior and respect rule of law,” he said. “And then steadfastly stand with the Afghan government against them [warlords] to show them that the days of impunity are over. Be serious about it.”

Mr. Nikyar then suggested that Kabul, with the support of the international community, can make an example of one of these warlords: U.S.-backed Afghan Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum. Mr. Dostum recently left for Turkey amid allegations of kidnapping, torturing and sexually abusing a political rival, Ahmad Ishchi, the former governor of Jowzjan.

The Dostum case exemplifies the warlord problem in Afghanistan, especially considering he is a key ally of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who sees the warlord as valuable given his large base of support in the country’s north. Mr. Ghani has said the government is “totally neutral” on the legal proceedings and that Mr. Dostum was allowed to depart to Turkey for medical treatment.

“Our rule of law organs must make an example of one of those warlords. Bring them to justice,” Mr. Nikyar said. “Dostum’s case provides a good opportunity.”

There are other ways to tackle the problem of warlords, Mr. Nikyar continued, including taking all of their weapons away, which he admitted was an extreme measure.

“That will put an end to their crimes,” Mr. Nikyar argued. “Make them respect our law enforcement agencies and believe that the only people with power is the government. Not any individual.”

University of Arizona Professor of History David Gibbs told The Globe Post something unthinkable that would raise the hackles of many Afghans, Americans and human rights activists the world over. Mr. Gibbs’ point, however, is not without merit given the warlordism, corruption, violence, and overall instability brought on by the U.S. occupation.

“I suspect there may even be some official regret that the U.S. ever overthrew the Taliban at all in 2001, since the country was at least relatively stable under Taliban rule, as ugly as that rule surely was,” Mr. Gibbs claimed.

ShareTweet
Michael Hughes

Michael Hughes

Related Posts

A Taliban fighter walks past a beauty saloon with images of women defaced using a spray paint in Shar-e-Naw in Kabul on August 18, 2021
World

Afghanistan’s Taliban Government Bans ‘Violent’ Mixed Martial Arts

by Staff Writer with AFP
August 29, 2024
A Taliban fighter walks past a beauty parlor
World

Thousands of Afghan Salons Close as Taliban Deadline Bites

by Staff Writer
July 25, 2023
Taliban fighters
Featured

UN Expert Decries ‘Systematic’ Attacks on Afghan Shiites

by Staff Writer
September 12, 2022
Afghan refugees
Featured

Pakistani Migrants in Afghanistan Caught in Quake No-Man’s Land

by Staff Writer
June 27, 2022
Afghanistan
Middle East

Taliban Vows in Geneva Talks to Protect Aid Workers: NGO

by Staff Writer
February 11, 2022
Afghan women
Middle East

Afghan Women Activists Say They Feel Betrayed by Oslo Talks

by Staff Writer
January 24, 2022
Next Post

Turkey’s Ties With Western Allies Sink Deep Into Abyss

U.S. soldiers in Okinawa listen to a radio report that announces the victory in Europe on May 9, 1945.

Preserving Radio’s History In US

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

A photo taken with a drone over Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Johnny Miller/Millefoto

White S. Africans Due for US Resettlement to Leave Sunday: Govt

May 12, 2025
Cardinal Robert Prevost, newly elected as Pope Leo XIV is seen on the Saint Peter’s Basilica balcony, at Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican on May 8, 2025

New Pope Leo XIV Has Mixed Record on Abuse: Campaigners

May 9, 2025
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard in Pampore, Pulwama district, south of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on May 7, 2025.

India and Pakistan: A History of Armed Conflict

May 7, 2025
US President Donald Trump speaks as he departs the White House, on May 5, 2020, in Washington, DC en route to Arizona, where he will tour a mask factory and hold a roundtable on Native American issues

Trump Says Ordering ‘100% Tariff’ on All Movies Produced Abroad

May 5, 2025
A massive power outage strikes Spain and Portugal, briefly affecting parts of France as well, on Monday, April 28, 2025.

Spain Starts Probing Causes of Massive Blackout

April 30, 2025
Cross-border demonstration promoted US-Canada alliances while protesting the policies of President Donald Trump.

Canada Votes for New Government to Take On Trump

April 28, 2025

Opinion

A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Putin talks to Trump in Hamburg

From Roosevelt to Trump: The Complicated Legacy of Personal Diplomacy

November 15, 2024
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Can the UN Human Rights Council Protect Rights While Abusers Sit at the Table?

October 28, 2024
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post