The future of Afghanistan, whose independence depends on 'one man policy' (4)

In our article yesterday, we touched on the political history of Afghanistan in a chronological flow, and then wrote the story of the Taliban. In this article, we will tell about the Taliban's Head of Doha Political Office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Brother, and the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who are the architects of the February 29, 2020 agreement signed between the Taliban and the USA.

Mullah Abdulgani Baradar

Abdulgani Baradar, one of the founders of the Taliban, played an important role in maintaining the existence of the organization in mountainous regions with the USA's entry into Afghanistan in 2001. With the withdrawal of the USA from Afghanistan, he came to Kandahar on the afternoon of August 17, 2021 with the C-17 military transport plane allocated by the USA, and led the Taliban to seize the administration in Afghanistan.

These days, when the Taliban re-declared its dominance in Afghanistan, it was started to be talked about that Brother would become the President of Afghanistan. On the other hand, it is not clear how the new administration will be organized together with the Taliban. A Coordination Council is being considered to coordinate the transfer of existing state institutions to the Taliban. In this council, along with the members of the Taliban, Karzai, Hekmatyar and Rabbani are also included. It is foreseen that the Taliban may start to rule the country again with a management approach that strengthens the harmony of religious rules without changing the constitution.

Due to the operation of the Taliban organization, no one's name comes to the fore in the organization. Even Mullah Omer always stayed in the background and led the organization. The world public mostly recognized the organization around the name "Taliban". It is said that Brother, who is the first name that comes to mind when talking about the Taliban, will have a say in the future of Afghanistan.

Mullah Abdulgani Brother, who leads the political office of the Taliban, which was opened in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in order to carry out negotiations with the USA, was born in Uruzgan in 1968. His family is from the Popalzai branch of the Durani tribe, one of the largest tribes of the Pashtuns.

Brother is one of the four prominent founders of the Taliban movement. He served in an active position in the management organization of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan between 1996-2001 as the first assistant of Mullah Omar, who calls himself "My Brother". With the arrival of the USA after 2001, the Taliban, which found shelters in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, continued its armed struggle against the USA and its allies. Brother was caught and imprisoned in Karachi in February 2010 as a result of an operation organized by the US teams as a result of the cooperation of the ISI and the CIA.

After the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar in 2013 (the organization shared the news of his death with the outside world in 2015), the name of Brother, who has been in prison since 2010, has come to the fore as the most authoritative name of the Taliban. However, it was never advertised as the organization's number one.

After the death of Mullah Omer, Mullah Mansur Akhtar led the organization for a while. When Mansur was killed by the United States as a result of an unmanned aerial vehicle attack in 2016, Mullah Heybetullah Ahunzade, who stood out in the organization with his religious knowledge, was replaced by Mansur. Thus, Heybatullah began to lead the organization at the head of the Taliban as the "new emir of the believers". Ahunzade is expected to play a unifying role of all religious groups under the roof of the Taliban, serving as a spiritual figure that strengthens ties with other groups due to his jihadist background. As a matter of fact, after he was elected as the leader of the Taliban, the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced that he had pledged allegiance to Heybatullah. Heybetullah draws a profile of a leader who makes his voice heard only with the messages he publishes before religious holidays.

Together with Brother Molla, Molla Omer's son Molla Yakup (in charge of military affairs) found a place for himself in the top management elite of the organization, consisting of four people.

Siracettin Hakkani, the leader of the Hakkani organization acting together with the Taliban, is the son of Celaleddin Hakkani, who fought against the Soviet occupation. He is referred to as the 'vice-president' of the Taliban organization. He is also the founder of the Hakkani organization. The Hakkani organization carried out most of the suicide attacks in Afghanistan in the 2001-2021 period, especially targeting the capital Kabul and causing the death of many people.

During the Trump era, the US attitude towards Brother has changed. Thinking that he could be effective in the negotiations between the Taliban and the USA, the Afghan representative of the USA, Zalmay Khalilzad, of Afghan origin conveyed to Pakistan the official request of the American side to release Brother. As a result, with the agreement reached in the negotiations between the USA and the Taliban, Brother was released in 2018. After the brother was released, he settled in Qatar instead of returning to the members of the organization.

Meanwhile, it was announced that Brother was appointed as the head of the Taliban Office opened in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Thus, negotiations with the United States The name of Brother, who became the head of the producing committee, began to be heard. Brother played an active role in the peace negotiations between the Taliban and the US administration.

Zalmay Khalilzad

Khalilzad's original intention was to persuade Brother of a power-sharing formula between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Brother, who has been negotiating with the USA since 2018, 'developed a cordial relationship' with Halilzad in this process. The brother went in front of the cameras with the then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The phone call he had with Trump in 2020 increased his popularity. The name of Brother, whose direct contact with the US President and a minister was reflected in the world press, began to precede Heybetullah Ahunzade, who has been the leader of the organization since 2016. In addition, Brother's international contacts have made him the face of the Taliban. Brother had his last high-level contact in China on July 28, 2021, as the head of the Taliban delegation. Brother, who met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, stated that "the Taliban is ready to work with all parties to draw a political framework in Afghanistan, and they will protect human rights, especially women's and children's rights." As of August 15, 2021, the Americans' "close allies Afghans" fled the Taliban in C-17 military transport aircraft of the American Air Force; the same USA allocated a special plane to Brother, enabling him to land from Doha to Kandahar as the de facto leader of the new administration.

From the US perspective, Zalmay Halilzad is the architect of the February 29, 2020 agreement. Zalmay, an American of Afghan descent, was born on March 22, 1951 in Mazar-i-Sharif. He went to Kabul for education at the age of 16. At that time, he became a member of the "Friends of America Association". The USA sent Halilzad, who attracted attention with his various achievements, to Lebanon by giving a scholarship after graduating from his school.

He studied at the American University of Beirut in the same years as former president Gani, and received his doctorate from the University of Chicago. Continuing to stay in the USA, Halilzad continued his academic career in this country. Halilzad is both Wolfovitz's student and assistant and Cheney's friend. As a matter of fact, Halilzad, who took office in the US foreign ministry in 1984, worked directly under Wolfovitz. Halilzad, who got the attention of the US officials with his works, found himself among the group that determined the US foreign policy. During this time, Khalilzad played an active role in arming the Afghan mujahideen fighting against the Soviets.

Halilzad, who took charge in the administration of the ministry of defense during the Bush era, was appointed chairman of the interim defense committee by Dick Cheney after the 2000 elections. He also served as Bush's special adviser during this period.

Halilzad, who served as the US ambassador to Afghanistan between 2003 and 2005, also served as the consultant of Unocal, one of the leading oil companies in the USA, as well as the energy consultancy of Shifron company. This company tried to implement the pipeline project between Turkmenistan and Pakistan over Afghanistan.

Halilzad, who served as the US ambassador to Iraq between 2005 and 2007, is also a shareholder in the oil company Halliburton, directed by Dick Cheney and currently involved in many oil deals in Iraq.

In 2007-2009, he represented the USA as the Permanent Representative to the UN. Halilzad is married to a Danish Jewish sociologist named Cheryl Benard.

Articles of the US-Taliban Agreement on February 29, 2020

The agreement signed between the parties under the leadership of Brother and Halilzad mainly contained the following conditions.

-- The United States will withdraw its remaining troops from Afghanistan.

-- The Taliban will not allow al-Qaeda or any other radical organization to operate in the areas they control.

-- 1,000 prisoners from the Afghan security forces and 5,000 prisoners from the Taliban will be released mutually.

-- The United States will lift the embargoes against the Taliban.

The parties to the agreement were only the USA and the Taliban. The Taliban would negotiate with the Afghan government how and by whom Afghanistan would be run.

Conclusion

Afghanistan has been the United States' longest-running war. More than 2,300 American soldiers lost their lives. Looking at the number of soldiers in Afghanistan over the years, the highest number of soldiers was sent in 2011 (110,000 soldiers). The official cost of the invasion of Afghanistan to the USA was calculated as 987 billion dollars in total. Implicit expenses are not included in this. It is stated in various platforms that the total expenditure for Afghanistan, together with the expenditures of NATO and the allies of the USA, is over 2 trillion dollars.

The long-term presence of US soldiers in Afghanistan drew the reaction of the Americans. For this reason, American presidents, who lost the support of the American public, found the solution by making an "honorable peace" with the Taliban, whom they could not bend their wrist, by leaving Afghanistan. Afghanist abandoned by the US and its allies The task of shaping the future of the present is left to Brother, another "one man", possibly supported by the United States.

As Kabul fell, American President Joe Biden criticized the army and government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, especially President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah. He openly accused Ghani and Abdullah, saying that they tolerate corruption, they are not willing to negotiate/negotiate with the Taliban, they cannot get enough support from the public, they cannot establish liberal democracy in the country and they always expect a solution from the USA. While leaving the country, the USA did not hesitate to discredit the collaborators it left behind in the eyes of the Afghan people. Thus, he both wanted to acquit himself and aimed to protect his influence in Afghanistan by shining the star of the Taliban, with which he made a deal.

What will happen now in Afghanistan? We will convey our thoughts to you in our fifth article.

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<https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulgani_Brader>, p.e.t.26.8.2021.

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BBC Turkish (2021). “How did the Taliban-US agreement determine the fate of Afghanistan, what did the agreement foresee?”, 18 August, <https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-58255094>, p.e.t.27.8.22021.

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