WASHINGTON: President Ashraf Ghani has made an embarrassing statement inwhich he has declared the complete incompetence and helplessness of hisgovernment without the US Support.
He has said that the Afghan National Army will not last more than sixmonths without US support and the Afghan government will also collapse.
Mr Ghani acknowledged his government’s almost absolute dependence onWashington in an interview to a television show CBS 60 Minutes, broadcastearlier this week.
But Gen John Nicholson, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said inthe same programme that with America’s new strategy and with increased USpressure on Pakistan to cooperate, he was certain he could winWashington’s longest war, which was now in its 16th year.
According to a transcript released on Tuesday, a CBS journalist asked theAfghan president to comment on what she had heard from people inAfghanistan: “If the US pulled out, your government would collapse in threedays.”ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
“From the resource perspective, they are absolutely right. We will not beable to support our army for six months without US support, and UScapabilities,” President Ghani responded.
In a report titled “Kabul under siege while America’s longest war rageson”, the US news channel noted that “in 16 years, the Afghan war has cost2,400 American lives and $1 trillion. But with the country’s capital undersiege, the end still seems far away.”
“Did you just say that without the US support your army couldn’t last sixmonths?” the journalist, Lara Logan, asked again. “Yes. Because we don’thave the money,” Mr Ghani said.
The US contributes around 90 per cent of Afghanistan’s defence budget andobservers in Washington say that in 16 years the US and its allies haveonly made some moderate gains. They claim that the Taliban still controllarge chunks of land in the Pashtun belt and the government in Kabul has sofar been unable to dislodge them.
In the interview, President Ghani also acknowledged the threateningpresence of 21 international terrorist groups in his country, adding thatdozens of suicide bombers were also being sent to Afghanistan.
“There are factories producing suicide bombers. We are under siege,” hesaid. “By terrorising the people, the Taliban have sown deep doubts aboutthe government.”
This campaign of terrorism, he added, brought out “angry protesters in thecapital chanting death to Ashraf Ghani”.
“If you can’t secure the capital, how are you going to secure the rest ofthe country?” the journalist asked. “You tell me. Can you prevent theattack on New York? Can you prevent the attack on London?” Mr Ghani replied.
Unlike President Ghani, Gen Nicholson appeared confident that he couldstill win the war. Asked if he had everything he needs, the general said:“Yeah, with the new policy I do … this is the end game. This is a policythat can deliver a win.