ASAP Principles for Post-Withdrawal U.S. Engagement with Afghanistan
Washington, D.C. (July 7, 2021) — Though the Alliance in Support of the Afghan People has long advocated vociferously against irresponsible American withdrawal from Afghanistan, we have no illusions at this point that the U.S. will reverse that policy — especially as our presence there has practically already ended. But the rapid pace of the drawdown and the failure to jointly plan a handover with the Afghan government and people inflicted unnecessary damage on Afghanistan’s security forces just as the annual Taliban spring offensive began.
The question now is, what must and can be done to address that decision’s potentially disastrous consequences? Even senior U.S. military and intelligence leaders predict a collapse of the Afghan government, and the ensuing power vacuum is likely to lead to a painful civil war, a major humanitarian crisis, a rise in human rights abuses and the resurgence of global terror groups such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Refugee flows will rival those of Syria, with the attendant human misery and exploitation by extremists that we saw from that crisis.
Much as many Americans would like to disengage completely from Afghanistan, the U.S. cannot — and, for moral and strategic reasons, should not — close the book on that country. The U.S. has a responsibility to remain involved and to mitigate the potentially disastrous impacts of this transition because it is removing a critical check on violence in Afghanistan, in contravention of its own stated policies to prevent atrocities and state instability.
With that in mind, the U.S. should:
· Continue our critical support for the Afghan security forces, who are now the only remaining check on the Taliban’s ambition for power, and encourage ongoing NATO partnership. We must ensure that this support is backed by tangible measures to maintain the Afghan military’s air capability and share timely intelligence to combat the Taliban and ISIS.
· Maintain or expand economic and diplomatic sanctions on Taliban leaders.
· Condition U.S. development aid to Taliban-controlled areas until the Taliban ends their violence, commits to a comprehensive nationwide ceasefire, enters into good faith negotiations, and adheres to international human rights standards.
· Seek and coalesce the involvement from other countries to support good outcomes in Afghanistan, and work through the United Nations Security Council to empower effective mediation mechanisms.
· Prioritize those and other instruments of leverage to ensure that constitutional rights for girls, women and other vulnerable communities in Afghanistan remain intact.
· Protect the many Afghans who are vulnerable to killings or repression by the Taliban because they provided support to the U.S. and NATO allies. This includes efforts to provide them with special visas to come to the U.S. or to other safe destinations and to protect human rights defenders and prominent women and minority leaders.
· Communicate with the American and Afghan publics about detailed U.S. plans to achieve these goals and follow through on them as assiduously and urgently as possible.
We welcome the Biden Administration’s commitments to security and humanitarian support in Afghanistan, but now they need to be turned into a reality. Our policies have set in motion forces that could result in catastrophe for millions of Afghans and greatly damage our own strategic interests in the region. Even with the diminished power to avert that tragedy, the U.S. must do everything possible to prevent it from happening.
The Alliance in Support of the Afghan People (or ASAP) represents a cross section of American national security, military, civilian and human rights leaders who advocate for continued U.S. engagement that protects, sustains, and advances the progress the Afghan and American people have made in Afghanistan since 2001. For more information: https://www.allianceforafghans.org/
