Advertisement
Afghanistan
OpinionLetters

Letters | War might not be done with Afghans, but Afghans are done with war

  • The US is on track to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by September 11, but Americans must not confuse that land with the horrors of that day

Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
Children from Internally displaced Afghan families from Khan Abad, Ali Abad and Imam Sahib districts gather inside a school in Kunduz city on June 26, after fleeing from ongoing battles between Taliban and Afghan security forces. It is feared all-out civil war may follow the departure of the US military in Afghanistan. Photo: AFP
Letters
There can be no Afghan civil war. Who will fight this war? There will be no Afghans. No Pashtuns, no Hazaras, no Uzbeks, no Tajiks. No Taliban, no Islamic State, no this name or that. And, there will most certainly not be any Muslims. There will just be bodies on all “sides” holding weapons.

There will be men like my dead brother, men who are not yet men, who have never lived in an Afghanistan at peace, never known anything but fear and sorrow in the faces of their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters.

No education, no concept of vocation, no joyful Eid celebrations, no chance to realise “Afghan” or “Muslim”. For millions, there will be no family to guide and nurture them, in their faith, in their own homeland.

02:58

‘They cannot stop us’: Teenage girls hurt in Afghan school blast vow to keep studying

‘They cannot stop us’: Teenage girls hurt in Afghan school blast vow to keep studying

The Afghan heart for war is not there. It never was. Many believe it was ripped out by the Soviet invasion. That it was diced to pieces by the illegitimate wars that followed.

Advertisement
Afghans are done with mythology. The US is on track to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by September 11, but Americans must not confuse that land with the horrors of that day. Afghans did not plan, fund, or fly in the 9/11 attacks. War might not be done with Afghans, but Afghans are done with war.

In a Muslim land, there is not enough water or trees. There are, however, rocks and dirt and thirst and hunger and another disease – as if it wasn’t hard enough for Afghans to breathe.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x