Opinion

Responsibility towards Afghanistan

photo_camera Felipe VI and Spanish troops arriving from Afghanistan

The withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan allows the Taliban to advance. Although it may seem so, Afghanistan is not so far away for Spanish interests. Spanish troops have spent 19 years in this Asian hornet's nest with 102 casualties. 62 in the Yak-42 crash in Turkey, 17 in a helicopter accident and the rest in combat or insurgent attacks and attacks.

For the first time, a Spanish government spoke clearly about the mission of Spanish troops: it went from the absurd refrain of humanitarian aid to all kinds of actions to fulfil the mission, and that included combat. In international missions, Spanish troops have been able to adapt to all kinds of missions: from humanitarian aid to training the local army, such as the Afghan army, to deactivating mines and explosives, to social cooperation with the civilian population and also, although it is taboo for some, to combat, which is what all military personnel are trained to do. The last 24 Spanish soldiers withdrew in May and the last American soldiers are scheduled to leave on 31 August.

A Western military intervention triggered by the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, which President Bush used as a banal justification to establish democracy in Afghanistan and to dismantle the networks of Al-Qaeda terrorists and something else that had a sad and costly continuation in Iraq, is now a thing of the past. Today, President Biden has put the cat out of the bag and has put an end to the military presence in a convoluted country where the British and the Soviets failed before.

The negotiations that have taken place in the Qatari capital, Doha, between the Taliban and the Americans, and now between the Taliban and the Afghan government, have served as a false alibi for all, but it is the Afghan citizens who are the losers, especially women who see the recovery of essential rights such as education threatened. The Taliban continue with their fine words in Doha while maintaining their violent advance in many regions of the country where they have taken control of key points. The Westerners are saving what little furniture they had left and the future of this country may lead to a new civil war between the different tribes and the corresponding militias, where the Taliban seem to have the upper hand, although the Daesh and Al-Qaeda terrorists will try to take control of the areas they are interested in. At the moment, the Taliban receive cynical recognition from governments such as the British, Russian, Chinese and Indian. No one is taking responsibility for Afghanistan, for its people, who are once again left helpless.