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‘Desperation will never bring peace’ – Opinion
A former Pentagon official has said that desperation for the Afghanistan peace deal creates a dangerous precedent.
Michael Rubin, a famous American writer, and a former Pentagon official, has said in his latest analytical piece, “Khalilzad’s increasing desperation – ignoring and excusing terrorism and demanding other countries do likewise – will never bring peace; rather, it will simply condemn the region to greater bloodshed.”
In this piece of writing, he says that since Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives have signed the agreement, violence has only increased.
“It is against such a backdrop that Khalilzad’s exculpation of Taliban involvement in attacks earlier this week on a funeral procession in Nangarhar and a maternity ward in Kabul must be taken with a grain of salt,” he wrote.
According to him, Afghan authorities say they have developed compelling evidence which indicates that the Taliban are responsible for the funeral and the maternity ward attacks; while Khalilzad urges all officials to take his word for it before investigations are complete.
Rubin believes that the “envoy is acting dishonestly in order to keep the agreement he signed on life support.”
He says it never hurts to talk to enemies, but if one side seeks peace and the other looks at diplomacy as an asymmetric warfare strategy, talks will not succeed.
“Calibrating national security to wishful thinking rather than reality is always unwise,” he says.
He underscores that Khalilzad’s demands of negotiating with a group that believes Hindus and other non-Sunni Muslims deserve death could undercut broader U.S. counterterrorism policies.
He wrote that the more Khalilzad wants the peace agreement to succeed, the more the Taliban tries to condemn the agreement to failure.
“Desperation for Afghanistan peace deal creates dangerous precedent” (my latest for @dcexaminer ) https://t.co/o9uB08SxDY @AEIfdp #Afghanistan #Taliban @US4AfghanPeace
— Michael Rubin (@mrubin1971) May 16, 2020
Football fans across Afghanistan can watch Tottenham Hotspur take on Charlton Athletic live on Ariana Television Network (ATN) tonight, Wednesday, August 26, with coverage beginning at 23:15 Kabul time.
The two London clubs meet in the second round of the EFL Cup, with Tottenham looking to progress while Charlton will aim to produce an upset against their Premier League opponents.
Tottenham enter the match as favourites on paper, with their greater top-flight experience expected to make them the stronger side. However, cup football can produce surprises, and Charlton will be looking to take advantage of any opportunity at their disposal.
The match provides Tottenham with another chance to build momentum early in the season, while Charlton will see the tie as an opportunity to test themselves against one of England’s biggest clubs.
The EFL Cup remains an important route to silverware for clubs across the English football pyramid, with teams aiming to advance through each round toward the final at Wembley.
Afghanistan fans can watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Charlton Athletic live tonight on Ariana Television, from 23:15 Kabul time.
The United Nations has warned that around one million children in Afghanistan are suffering from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition and could die without urgent treatment.
UNICEF said on Tuesday that about 3.7 million children across Afghanistan are suffering from wasting, a condition caused by acute malnutrition.
Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, said around one million of these children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which is considered the most dangerous form of acute hunger.
“If there is no treatment and we are not able to act fast, that one million number are at risk of dying,” Oyewale said during a media briefing in Geneva, speaking from Kabul.
He said the nutrition crisis is worsening across the country, with more than 500,000 children requiring hospital care so far this year for moderate and severe wasting.
According to UNICEF, nearly 40 percent of children admitted to hospitals with severe wasting and medical complications are babies younger than six months. Children under the age of two account for more than 80 percent of severe acute malnutrition cases.
Oyewale said malnutrition is playing a major role in the increasing number of deaths among very young children in Afghanistan.
The situation has also placed growing pressure on hospitals. In July last year, around 6,000 severe malnutrition cases were recorded, while the number rose by about one-third to more than 8,000 cases by July this year.
“In parts of southern Afghanistan, some hospitals are now seeing three or four severely malnourished children for every available bed,” Oyewale said.
Kabul Municipality says the districts of Bagrami and Chahar Asyab will be incorporated into Kabul city as part of a broader plan to expand and develop the capital.
Nematullah Barakzai, a Kabul Municipality official, told the BBC that Kabul has experienced significant growth in recent years, both through the expansion of the city’s boundaries and the construction of high-rise buildings.
“Kabul is not only growing vertically, but it has also seen considerable horizontal expansion, which can be observed on Google Maps,” Barakzai said. “Kabul currently has 22 municipal districts, and Bagrami and Chahar Asyab are also expected to be incorporated into the city.”
The municipality has not yet announced a specific timeline for implementing the plan.
Bagrami is located about 15 kilometers from central Kabul, while Chahar Asyab lies south of the capital and serves as one of the main routes connecting Kabul with Afghanistan’s southern provinces.
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