Bilal Sarwary, a journalist, calls home every night from Kabul to check in on his friends at Afghan military bases as they battle the Taliban insurgents.These Afghans seek leadership, support, and even extraction from Kabul officials as the Taliban take control of each district. They rarely receive a reply.He says that commandos and soldiers are asking for food, water and ammunition. They are asking to be evacuated. This is in reference to the predicament faced by intelligence operatives from Afghanistan and officers from Kunar.Unfortunately, there is now a front line in Afghanistan. He says that the fighting is right at their doorstep. Afghans are currently experiencing psychological turmoil. People are afraid.Today, that pressure increased as NATO and the United States declared they had evacuated Bagram, north of Kabul. This was the epicenter for Western military involvement in Afghanistan.Few believed that the Taliban would seek military victory or push their advantage. They boasted of being the American superpower. The Taliban's tactics include intimidation, blackmail, coercion and coercion. They also use explosive violence and bloodshed to win popularity contests. As America withdraws from Afghanistan, it raises the possibility of civil war. The question is: Why is Afghanistan's government so weak and distrusted when anti-Taliban sentiment is so strong?This crisis has revealed as never before the widespread distrust in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government. Its institutions have been eroded by corruption, political infighting, which has led to its disconnect from ordinary Afghans. All this despite a 20 year investment of billions in Western aid and nation-building.Orzala Nemat is a Kabul-based Afghan analyst who says that the government is weak because it has lost the connection to the people. While the president may have been advocating a social contract in theory, he has failed to fulfill it in practice by consolidating and over-concentrating all government affairs within the palace.Continue the storyShe says that even though people hate the Taliban, they got fed up of corrupt officials and didn't care about the government.When will the last American troops leave?It is unclear when the few remaining U.S. soldiers will be leaving, officially ending America's longest-running war.Two months before President Joe Biden's Sept. 11, 2001 withdrawal deadline, the low-profile American departure comes at a time when President Ghanis government is facing an unprecedented Taliban assault. This advance has brought many of the country's districts under jihadi control, often without firing a shot, as Afghan troops surrendered with assurances of safe passage home.Transparency International's 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Afghanistan at 165 out 180 countries. The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), in a report released today, pointed out that insurgents' recent lightning advances were due to government negligence and incompetence, not Taliban strength.Although widespread Taliban attacks were to be expected as the U.S. retreated, the speed and scale of the [Afghan security forces] collapse was unexpected, AAN reported.According to the AAN report, President Biden's April announcement of a swift and unconditional U.S troop withdrawal changed the nature and balance of the conflict abruptly and decisively in favor of the Talibans.The Taliban, not afraid of American airstrikes once again ravaging their homeland, are now engaging in scorched earth tactics. These include burning crops and seeding orchards with mines to destroying bridges, and bulldozing roads.The White House welcomed Mr. Ghani to the White House last week. President Biden made promises of continued U.S. support. He requested $3.3 billion next year for security assistance. This would include technical and training support from abroad.Is it too late to make such plans happen?General Austin Miller, the U.S. commander for Afghanistan, stated Tuesday that civil war was a path that could be seen if this trajectory continues. A U.S intelligence assessment last week warned that the Kabul government could collapse within six months of Americans leaving.Truth is that today, Afghanistan's survival, security and unity are in peril, Abdullah Abdullah (the government reconciliation envoy) stated in recent days. There is no better path than peace.Despite a U.S. withdrawal agreement with the Taliban in 2020 and intra-Afghan peace negotiations that began in September in Doha (Qatar), peace has yet to be reached between the Kabul government und insurgents.According to Mr. Sarwary, the journalist and government are both experiencing a worsening disconnect.Kunar-based Afghan security forces members are aware of the consequences of government weakness. Mr. Sarwary follows them, and their pleas for assistance go unanswered from Kabul officials.He says President Ghani has failed from the beginning to bring political cohesion and failed to gather all around the same table. This refers to the disunity that saw two presidential inaugurations last January for Mr. Ghani (his long-time rival) and Mr. Abdullah (his long-time rival).Ghani may be fluent and eloquent. But his men lack roots in society, according to Mr. Sarwary. You suddenly had people with two passports. I call these political tourists. There were also some men who couldn't even speak Pashto or Dari in parliament.This has caused a disconnect between Kabul, with its bravado, empty statements and [where] people like to paint a rosy image, he said, and frontline commanders who have been badly letdown.Many of these [officials] aren't picking up a coffin... and have not attended a funeral, Mr. Sarwary says. Many of them don't feel the pain. They are disconnected from the consequences and the reality. It could be that they don't know, or it could be some government employees.Lack of consistencyAs the Taliban escalate violence, frequent changes in Cabinet and top security officers have led to confusion and lackluster command-and-control coordination.I am curious if it is not about Taliban success but about the alienation of Afghan people and what drove this alienation, says Ibraheem Bashiss, an Afghanistan analyst at the International Crisis Group.He blames the government's inability to hold it accountable for large amounts of funding from Western donors, with different agendas, and endless political wrangling at Kabul.U.S. troops and NATO troops were also unable to understand local dynamics, from valley to hamlet to village, which led to them being used in local vendettas. One side accused the other of being pro-Taliban, turning entire regions against the government.According to Ms. Nemat (an Afghan analyst), Afghanistan has not seen peace in 20 years of military intervention.Most people are aware that the Taliban are not Robin Hoods in Afghanistan and they are not the saviors. The Taliban leadership is corrupt and often fighting for other interests.None of the parties won over the hearts of the people. ... She says that people feel like they are being held hostage by two sides fighting against each other. This is where the government or the Taliban will win.Everyone will be standing next to the [Ghani] government because they aren't ready for the Taliban nightmare to return, Ms. Nemat says. They will stand but they won't be able to because of the corruption and their actions.Similar storiesThis story is available at csmonitor.comBe a member of the Monitor community
