The recent fall of districts to the Taliban has become a serious concern among the people. Unfortunately, the government is not honest with the people in discussing the fall of the districts. What the government is feeding the people under the guise of tactical retreat is a lie. The fact is that the government has not been able to maintain its control over the districts. There are many reasons why what has happened so far is not a tactical retreat; It is a failure.
Lying about the realities of war costs both the government and the people. The cost of the government’s lies is that people no longer believe the truth. People need initiative to deal with situations of danger and urgency and respond to them in a timely manner. The government’s lie, however, deprives them of this practice. This is the cost that the government lies on the people.
The government and the people need to have a close relationship with each other. This relationship requires that the government not lie to the people and be honest in its treatment of them. Deception and hypocrisy damages this relationship and cause people to lose trust in the government. Because the survival and stability of the government depends on the trust of the people, it would be appropriate not to lie to the people.
For the past three months, the government has lost control of 25 districts. The Taliban have taken control of most of these districts in the past month and a half. The government, however, still denies the fall of these districts to the Taliban and insists that it has retreated from these districts.
The government initially argued that it had launched a tactical retreat to prevent “civilian casualties”. It was later announced that the government was planning to evacuate a number of checkpoints and districts without clashes. The plan was justified by saying that such checkpoints and districts were not of strategic importance to the government, and that defending them would increase the cost of the war and the loss of government forces. People bought these justifications and arguments for a while and were not too worried about the situation.
Now, over time, the situation is a little clearer. People now know that what is being called a tactical retreat or a voluntary withdrawal is a lie; This is because many districts and checkpoints have fallen into the hands of this group as a result of days of fighting between the government and the Taliban. Dozens of lives of the government forces have also been lost fighting to protect these checkpoints and districts. Eventually, checkpoints and districts with all their facilities fell into the hands of the Taliban. Dozens of government forces have also been captured by the Taliban in the fighting.
What kind of tactical retreat is it that government forces do not even have a chance to safely evacuate the checkpoints and barely make it out alive? If the voluntary withdrawal from checkpoints and districts is a well thought out plan, why aren’t the forces stationed at these checkpoints and districts notified of the attack in prior? Moreover, government officials are inconsistent with their words and why can’t they give convincing reasons to justify what happened?
Two days ago, the Interior Ministry warned local and tribal elders that they would be punished if they mediated to hand over the checkpoints to the Taliban. This warning, though defensible; But there are also questions regarding that. If the government’s plan is to evacuate the checkpoints, why is it worried about being handed over to the Taliban through the mediation of local influential figures and local elders? If this is not the plan, why not acknowledge the collapse of the checkpoints and turn to the people for help?
Yesterday, Amrullah Saleh, the first vice president, tried to hide the nature of the recent events in a Facebook post. “In many of the areas that have been named as collapse of district, the Taliban have advanced by creating a narrow line,” he said. According to Saleh, these advances have no depth and are shallow, and this narrow line will become their graveyard.
This message of Saleh is like the arrogant claims of Yassin Zia who said that the army is ready for war, and all the Taliban have to do is show where they are at. Later, the Taliban showed themselves and no trace of this arrogant claim remained. The government currently is practically paralyzed in 25 districts. How can this situation be called “progress” in a “narrow line”? The psychological burden of these falls has been so heavy that people think the Taliban have reached their gates. If this “narrow line” was to become a Taliban cemetery, why has it not been done yet? How long do people have to wait for the government to turn this “narrow line” into a Taliban graveyard?
Do not lie to people. Government officials must act responsibly to what is happening. The government must provide the people with a clear report of the situation and shed light on what has happened in Afghanistan. The officials of the defense and security agencies should also be questioned and reprimanded for these incidents. This ridiculous show must end.
