By Asadullah Jafari “Pezhman”
ANA the Hope of Thousands and Millions of Afghans
Just on August 15, 2021, the tragic mission of the Afghan National Army ended. This incomplete and sad mission destroyed the hopes of thousands and millions of Afghan citizens. How bitter is the memory to be included in the pages of history with its bitter taste. After the rapid advances of the Taliban throughout Afghanistan and the final surrender of Kabul to the Taliban insurgents, the question why the army that took 20 years to develop by spending billions of dollars, collapsed, is the question of many observers, experts, and millions of Afghan and non-Afghan citizens worldwide.
The Betrayal in the Name of “Peaceful Transfer of Power”
If the Afghan National Army and National Police were not trained and equipped to resist the Taliban, what was the reason for their existence in security institutions and bases? Many national and international media have always raised such questions, especially the people of Afghanistan, after the fall of the army. When images of the Taliban entering the presidential palace of this country were broadcasted in disbelief, the Afghan armed forces surrendered the capital to the Taliban rebels in the name of “peaceful transfer of power” without firing a single shot.
The People of Afghanistan are Victims of Civil Wars
Afghanistan has been involved in civil wars for the past four decades. The Mujahideen war against the People’s Republic and the Soviet military supporters, the civil war between different groups of Mujahideen warlords, the war between ethnic groups, the battle between the Taliban and Mujahideen, and finally, the Taliban war with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its international supporters. During the last 20 years, 150,000 Afghan citizens were killed, of which 43,000 were civilians, and nearly 110,000 were army, police, and national security forces. This high number of victims for the return of the Taliban to power and Afghanistan to “zero point” confirms the words of the British Foreign Minister and the leader of the Christian Democratic Party of Germany, who both described the withdrawal of operations in Afghanistan as a failure.
The Illiteracy & 83 Billion Dollars Spent on an Army that Never Fought
According to information published by the United States, in the last 20 years, 83 billion dollars have been spent on building, equipping, supporting, and training Afghan National Army. Massive cash has been spent in a country where less than 30% of its population has electricity all day and night. However, it appeared that many members of the Afghan National Army and National Police lacked the ability to use and maintain combat equipment donated by the United States and NATO. France 24 reports that the United States began the gradual withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan in 2011. Therefore, American military experts and NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan had ignored the fact that many members of the Afghan armed forces, such as the army, police, and intelligence of this country, were not even literate. So, they did not have the ability to read and write.
The Army that was Exaggerated On It
The United States and the Afghan government greatly exaggerated their 300,000-strong army. A ratio of 1 to 4 government forces was used against the Taliban until days before Kabul’s fall to ensure resistance against the Taliban fighters. The report of American intelligence agencies also estimated that after the withdrawal of foreign forces, the Afghan government would probably be able to resist rebels for up to 2 months, and then it would fall. In addition, the United States had been deliberately hiding the weaknesses and inabilities of the Afghan National Army. John Sopko, office director of the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), recently revealed, “When it came to evaluating the Afghan National Army, the military changed the goals to make them easier to achieve so they could say they have succeeded. Hence, when they could not succeed, they classified the information of the failure as confidential to prevent its disclosure. The American military observers knew how bad the condition of the Afghan National Army was” Most bitter of all, the last report of “SIGAR” warned the Congress of the US government that “the use of advanced weapons systems, vehicles, and support of Western armies is extremely beyond the capabilities of the military, especially the Afghan National Army, who are mostly illiterate.”
The Ethnic Rivalries and Corruption
After the bloody terrorist attack on the 209th Shaheen Corps in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, more than 200 National Army officers and soldiers were killed. The motivation for such attacks was widespread Corruption that was rooted in all bodies of Afghanistan’s military and security institutions, including this country’s national army, for years. There have been many attacks on the most secure army bases. However, after the bloody attack on the 209th Shaheen Corps, the Afghan military and political authorities were severely criticized internally and externally. Nevertheless, observers, experts, informants, and all the people of Afghanistan called the national army of this country a deeply corrupt and inefficient institution that cannot even ensure the security of its military personnel.
This Corruption and inefficiency is the main reason the Taliban advance in Afghanistan and the escalation of their bloody attacks in the country. According to the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) report, the Kabul government controlled only 58% of the territory of Afghanistan, and the rest was under the control of the Taliban. Army institutions announced thousands of generals in the Afghan National Army and said that the Afghan army is severely suffering from lacking young and educated officers. One of the reasons for this is that the generals of the Afghan National Army bought their positions with money and intermediaries, and many generals of the Afghan National Army were not even literate.
The Ghost Soldiers
Previously, John Sopko, the US special inspector for Afghanistan reconstruction, said that “the Taliban buy the weapons and ammunition they need from the Afghan National Army, because it is both cheaper and more reliable.” Another problem that the Afghan National Army suffered was the presence of tens of thousands of “Ghost Soldiers,” or unreal soldiers in the army’s ranks.
This is because the Afghan army commanders received equipment and huge budgets in exchange for these “persons” or, so to speak, “put in their own pockets.” NATO estimated the number of these imaginary soldiers to be between 20,000 and 40,000. At that time, the complicated problem of the Afghan National Army was the ethnic rivalries within it. The combination of Corruption and ethnic rivalries were the most important reasons for the ineffectiveness of the Afghan National Army.
The Occupy Luxurious Palaces of the Government Warlords
Since about ten days before the fall of Kabul, the Taliban were rapidly capturing the provincial centers from Zaranj to Kabul. The entry of Taliban rebels into the houses of warlords and governors and the publication of pictures from the “palaces” of fugitive statesmen showed the major difference between the way of life of the ruling class and the majority Afghan population in this country. The palaces of the warlords acquired without effort from flesh and blood of the Afghan people were occupied by Taliban rebels within a week. Over the past few years, there have been numerous reports of widespread Corruption in Afghanistan, from the distribution of international aid to voting to buy candidates for parliament, ministries, and other government positions.
The report of the Russian officials about Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai fleeing with cars full of cash and leaving part of this money on the runway. The acceptance of this story by the local and global public opinion, regardless of its truth or falsity, shows that the highest official of Afghanistan, to what extent, has been unreliable, unjealous, and unscrupulous. To date, one year has passed since the occupation of Afghanistan by the Taliban. Terrible reports, stories of human rights violations, and persecutions of religious and ethnic minorities are broadcast to the world. All these pains people of Afghanistan are attributed to those who were at the head of administration, especially the security sectors of Afghanistan and the Afghan National Army.
Endnotes:
1 http://www.indiandefencereview.com/from-military-memories-to-todays-events/
2 http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/afghan-national-army-or-afghan-national-authority-why-and-what-happened/
www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2021/08/16/afghan-armys-collapse-was-years-in-the-making-say-experts/
4 https://www.cato.org/blog/pervasive-illiteracy-afghan-national-army
5 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59230564
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