Thomas West is pursuing the same policy as Khalilzad, which is not in the interests of either America or Afghanistan.
Author: Dr. Farid Younes, Retired Professor of Islamic Anthropology and Islamic Philosophy, California State University (USA), Member of the Sangar Advisory Board.
Negotiations between the Taliban and the United States of America on July 30-31, 2023 in Doha failed.
The expectation of the United States from day one is the basic human rights issues, especially allowing women to study and work, and in the second stage, freedom of speech, which the Taliban will definitely not bow to. The reason the Taliban are not bowing is because they think they have beaten the US and that the US should first return the assets or money it froze to Afghanistan and then they will listen to the Americans.
Secondly, I have been saying and writing since day one that a group that came to power on the basis of ideology will never compromise and understand, which the Taliban have not done until today. If the United States returns the frozen money, then the superpower should listen to the terrorist group, and such a position shows America's weakness internationally. Secondly, if the US listens to the Taliban, they will violate the basic principles of their own democracy, namely: personal freedoms, freedom of speech, and women's rights.
But it should be noted that this issue of US foreign policy violating its own democratic principles in the world outside is neither new nor impossible. If America believed in human rights outside of its own country, regardless of the administration, be it a Democrat or a Republican, it would not have signed an agreement with the Taliban. That is, readers should know that America is not a pillar of human rights outside of America and that only its strategic and economic interests matter, and don't be surprised if one day it officially recognizes Afghanistan.
But for now, the US is waiting for Arab countries such as Qatar and other Gulf states that are funding the Taliban. And the reason for the Gulf countries funding the Taliban, as we have said in the past, if a fair system and basic people's democracy is established in Afghanistan, it will affect the systems of the Gulf countries and they will disappear like a domino effect. Therefore, the Gulf countries finance the Taliban so that they themselves can only survive.
These talks were attended by Special Representative for Afghanistan Affairs, Mr. Thomas West, and Ms. Reena Amiri, an Afghan by birth and responsible for women's rights, especially in Afghanistan, at the US State Department. Mr. West was appointed to this post instead of Zalmay Khalilzad and pursued almost the same policy as Khalilzad. Unfortunately, this policy is not in the interests of America and not in the interests of human rights in Afghanistan. Ms. Amiri does not have a definite political opinion, but closed-door talks with the Taliban did not lead to a consensus. Understandably, Ms. Amiri is currently strict in her stance until she is given a red light from above and told not to push too hard.
The Taliban, based on the ideology of the "DUK", i.e. mixtures of Indian deobandism, Saudi Wahhabism, and Pashtun ethnic and tribal culture will not compromise, especially when they receive billions of dollars in humanitarian aid from the United States. They themselves are calm and secure, while the country lives in poverty. They are blaming America for this trouble, which froze the money, and secondly, they think that it is pleasing to God when they say that it is not their business to give bread to the people!
