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By Lutfur Rahman.(Pakistan Observer)
With every passing day, rift between the Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the US is widening. Both are fed up with each other. Addressing a function held in connection with the International Learning Day in Kabul on 28th September 2010, Karzai termed the presence of US led foreign forces in his country as useless. He accused these forces for keeping Afghan children uneducated who according to him, are unable to attend schools and colleges due to terrorist attacks and unexpected air strikes by the coalition forces. He categorically stated that foreign countries have sent their troops to promote their own vested interests rather than to provide security to the Afghan nation.
The Afghan President is so much disappointed with the performance of the ISAF that he even expressed his intention of becoming a Taliban few months back. On the other hand, Washington is also not happy with Hamid Karzai and held him responsible for the mess due to wide spread corruption and mismanagement of his government. However, both need each other. Hamid Karzai came to power with the support of the US after the fall of Taliban administration in 2001. Following the 9/11 unpleasant event, the US attacked Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime for giving shelters to Al Qaeda. At that time, the Taliban instead of fighting the mighty force, adopted a well thought strategy by mixing among the Afghan public and waiting for a suitable time to launch a guerilla war, a tactic adopted by Afghan people against all the previous invaders. It was in Bonn conference that Hamid Karzai was chosen to head the government replacing the Taliban regime. The US was under impression that Hamid Karzai who belongs to Kandahar, the headquarters of the Taliban movement, would win sympathy of hic countrymen and be able to restore peace and stability by minimizing influence of the insurgents. But things went in wrong directions enabling the Taliban to re-group and intensified their deadly attacks against the coalition troops. Five hundred and forty foreign troops were killed this year alone. This is more than sixty causalities per day. Both the US and Karzai are blaming each other for the fiasco. It shows that history is repeating itself.
At the peak of the “Great Game”, Czarist Russia was expanding its frontiers especially in Central Asia. This alarmed the British authorities fearing of Afghanistan occupation by Russia. Keeping in view this apprehension, the British decided to have the government of its choice in Kabul. It launched 1st Anglo-Afghan War in January 1839 to install its puppet, Shah Shuja. A special force known as the Army of Indus comprising twenty one thousand personnel with forty thousand camp followers, thirty thousand camels and eight thousand horses started moving towards Afghanistan via Sindh and Baluchistan. It was headed by Lt. General John Keane. The Army occupied Kandahar as chiefs of the city received bribes in shape of gold. It then moved to Ghazni and Kabul. Amir Dost Muhammad fled to Bokhara along with his oldest son, Muhammad Akbar Khan. The Army of the Indus achieved its aim of putting Shah Shujah on the throne, delighting the British officers. But humiliation and disaster were waiting for them. Meanwhile, Dost Muhammad unexpectedly appeared in Kabul and surrendered astonishing residents of the city and British officers. He was sent to Ludhiana on safe exile. But instead of improvement, situation in Kabul started deteriorating. Shah Shuja’s regime did not prosper. He like Hamid Karzai earned enmity of tribal elders by ignoring them in decision making process. Cracks also appeared in his friendship with the Army of Indus; the former complaining that the Army is not letting him to govern as he wishes, and the Army realized that a wrong man was in power. In the meantime, General Cotton was replaced by Major General William Keith Elphinstone, who was totally unfit for the task. On November 2, 1841, an angry mob murdered the British Resident, Sir Alexander Burnes, his brother and some other Englishmen in Kabul. Each successive morning brought new disasters. The Afghans occupied the hill tops surrounding Kabul firing on the British soldiers. Muhammad Akbar Khan also appeared on the scene.
In order to save the Army of Indus from destruction, Major Eldred Pottinger tried to have a deal with Akbar Khan. The later proposed that the British troops could withdraw to India, under his (Akbar) escort leaving behind their treasury and all the married officers and their families. Elphinstone surrendered the treasury and 130 Englishmen as hostages. On January 6th, 1842, over 17,000 troops and camp followers came out of Kabul to get out of Afghanistan. The weather was chilly and the city had received 10 inches snow on that day. Shah Shujah was looking at the retreating army and waiting for his own doom. The British soldiers and camp followers were repeatedly attacked by Afghans especially those belonging to Ghilzai tribe. The British officers met with Akbar Khan complaining of the shooting. But Akbar’s reply was that he could not control the Ghilzai. 12,000 British soldiers and camp followers perished in less than a week. The Afghans made Elphinstone, General Shelton and several other British officers as hostages. On 13th January, the rest of the army reached Gandamak, about 50 km in the north of Jalalabad. At Gandamak, except Assistant Surgeon Brydon, all other British soldiers were put to death. The wounded Dr. Brydon, riding a dying pony at last reached the British garrison at Jalalabad on 13 January 1842. Thus Muhammad Akbar Khan fulfilled his promise with Afghan nation that he would destroy the whole army and spare only one man to tell the tale. Shah Shuja was also assassinated. After this disaster, Dost Muhammad Khan was reinstated as the Amir with Akbar Khan as his advisor.
It is yet difficult to say that Mulla Omar would emerge as the second Akbar Khan against the coalition forces. But Hamid Karzai is really in hot water. His government can not survive even for a single day if the US led coalition pull out its troops from Afghanistan. He is not popular among the Afghan people despite the fact that he twice won the presidential elections. Authorities in Washington are also confused what to do. They have committed a blander by sending troops to Afghanistan, the country which is known as the graveyard of big powers. What happen to the former USSR for invading Afghanistan? Amir Abdur Rahman rightly said more than a century ago that “it is not difficult to conquer Afghanistan but it is difficult to keep hold on it”.
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