Team News Riveting
Fawzia Koofi, a member of Doha peace talks, had observed that a month’s delay in the withdrawal of American forces could have saved Afghanistan from the Taliban takeover.
She said the delay could have resulted in a significant difference to the outcome of continuing peace talks with the Taliban leadership. Fawzia Koofi, an Afghan politician and women’s rights activist, said the chaotic withdrawal announced with a deadline by President Joe Biden undermined all leverage that the US and the Afghan government had with the Taliban at the Doha talks. “Afghanistan is the victim of back-to-back mistakes,” she said.
Having escaped two assassination attempts, said: Fawzia said President Biden could have bought time for a political settlement. Just a month later, the Taliban could have come to a deal, she said, adding that the abrupt departure had needlessly put many more people at risk.
She said the lifting of UN travel sanctions was also a big blunder as it enabled the Taliban leadership to be in Doha for talks and move to other places to garner support. “They used the travel to strengthen their own position as they went to China, Russia, Iran and Turkey,” Fawzia added.
She is sceptical that the Taliban would be different this time. The Taliban had to ensure that the decision taken by the political leadership was followed by its foot soldiers.
“The political officers have been exposed to many international experiences living in Qatar [for the negotiations]. They have had their eyes opened to living in an Islamic emirate which does allow women to go to school and has women in politics,” she said.
“But the Taliban’s Islam is deeply conservative, mixed up with tradition that is not Islamic. Burqa has no space in Islam; it’s not Islamic. But the very young Taliban are not even educated.
