To Donald Trump, President of the United States of America!Availing this opportunity of understanding arisen due to the presidential change of your country, I wish to share with you a few realities about the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
The war launched on Afghanistan by your troops has completed its fifteenth year, is the longest war in your history (still prolonging) and has caused human and material losses to both sides.
You, being chosen as the elected President of the United States and having to carry the burden of responsibility for all aspects of this war, must ask what is the end goal of this war? Everyone understands that wars are not waged for the sake of war but as a means to an end.
If your goal is the permanent occupation of Afghanistan, oppressing this nation, forcing a rule upon them then using the land, air space and other resources of this country for your own interests; then you must learn from past experiments and understand that such dreams can never materialize because to do so you must first guarantee stability for your soldiers and the servile regime before using the air and land for your vested interests. However historical experiences, the nature of this land and its people and most importantly, the past 15 years have proven that it is impossible to provide safety for foreign forces or quell the armed religious and national resistance against it.
Come let us unwaveringly accept that our nation has waged a historically successful struggle against a foreign invasion over the past 15 years. Our people did not have the material, military, logistical or even the official moral support of any nation.
Tens of countries allied in this occupation used military, political, propaganda and every other means available to breakdown our lawful resistance but as our Jihad and struggle was legitimate religiously, intellectually, nationally and conforming to all other lawful standards and because our nation believes in it to the extent of sacrosanctity, therefore the invaders failed to pacify this resistance despite having a lopsided military advantage. In the end, many officials of the countries allying with the occupation recognized that they are not fighting some rebellious group, rather they are at war with an entire nation. Hence they embraced this reality, opened channels of dialogue and understanding with the Islamic Emirate and slowly began pulling their troops out of this illegal, ineffective and aimless war.
Elected President of the United States!The Afghans, as a nation ravaged by war for thirty eight long years, sincerely want to bring this war to an end however they know – despite whatever reasons for previous wars – that the principle cause for the ongoing conflict is the presence of foreign occupying forces in our independent country. To bring an end to this war feeding on the blood of your and our people, you must further understand the geography and nature of this war through the following clarifications.
First: As a nation of the Asian continent, Afghanistan boasts of regionally having the longest history of independence and freedom. That this nation has been invaded the most and has somehow emerged sound from these disasters while the dangers of occupation and disintegration have not harmed it, one of the reasons is because the independence of this nation, its territorial integrity and defense of national interests is dependent upon its people and not on individuals, groups and governments. This nation holds its sovereignty dear above any estimations and considers itself the true and undisputed owner of this geography.
Second: The Afghan nation considers the independence of their country as their lawful right and firmly believes it can safeguard and manage its own homeland. History does not recall a time when the security and interests of others were threatened from the land and airspace of this country. Our country remained neutral in both the First and Second World Wars and did not aid or ally with any side. Our country also remained a member of non-aligned nations during the Cold War.
This fear of people viewing our country being used as a potential strategic theater by rivals or being involved in a great game is unfounded. We want to take a breath of serenity in our country after long wars and heal the wounds of our nation. Our nation will not accept the military presence of western colonialists just as it refused the military presence of eastern colonialists.
Third: Just as our people do not hold the intention of harming others, they reciprocally will not accept harm by others. You understand that our country is the poorest from amongst the so-called third world countries. The only asset that our persecuted nation holds is a free and independent country retained through the ages with a lot of blood and sacrifice. Our nation is ready for every sacrifice in defense of this asset and values its preservation above every estimation. We fought against the English for more than half a century from the end of the 19th century and beginning of 20th century for this exact aim (acquiring independence). In defense of our country, we offered over 1.5 million martyrs against the Soviet invasion.
Looking at the above, it would be naive for someone to think that they can force our nation to accept their invasion and rule or that they can exhaust our nation by prolonging this war. Our nation considers fighting for its rights as a great honor and the pinnacle of heroism and they do not see dying in this path as death, but as eternal life.
Fourth: Your previous administrations have tried to portray the armed resistance against occupation in Afghanistan as mere rebellion, being led by a few supposed ‘terrorists’ who do not have the backing of the people. However after witnessing fifteen years of realities and the ever expanding resistance, there should be no doubts left that this war is the unified uprising of all ethnicities across Afghanistan and not the work of a small group or a few individuals. The leadership of this uprising, as a governing system, is in the hands of the Islamic Emirate. The Islamic Emirate is not some unsupported terror spreading fighting group, rather it is an orderly and well-grounded movement of the people which carries with itself a rational and understandable agenda for its warfare, politics and lawful cause.
The Islamic Emirate has justification and rationale for its every action and reaction. That is why it is gaining international political legitimacy every day and on top of regional countries, maintains relations with various countries around the world including with the United Nations and various other bodies. The Islamic Emirate – as a governing body – is the only movement among the current political sides of Afghanistan to have popular and countrywide support of the people. It has deep roots in all the ethnic communities of Afghanistan, currently rules over fifty percent of Afghanistan, influences a further thirty percent and can threaten the enemy rule established by your troops and Kabul regime in the remaining twenty percent at any given moment.
It is due to this reason that many countries regionally and globally have arrived at a conclusion that it is this nationally supported political-military power (Islamic Emirate) which they should interact and come to an understanding with as a responsible future entity of this country because the other groups and individuals have risen only through foreign support and do not have any foundations among the people.
Fifth: The people serving in the current regime under your support calling themselves the government of Afghanistan, can never represent this nation and neither do the people have any trust in them. These people, who earn the dishonor of most corrupt regime in the world annually, are not loyal to anything except their own material interests.
An illustration of their disloyalty towards their country and people is the saga of Kabul Bank where the savings of the poor workers, teachers, laborers and working class were siphoned off by the high-ranking officials of this very regime that built their accounts and businesses with it overseas.
On top of embezzling international aid, these corrupt officials have also looted the wealth of their own people, having usurped thousands of hectares of land, and are embroiled in theft, banditry, administrative corruption, immorality and organized crimes. Therefore they are not trusted by the people and neither can you impose them upon the nation any longer through threat of force and violence.
Sixth: There is a consensus in the country, regionally and even internationally that the war in Afghanistan is not in the interest of anyone. We, as a party of the conflict on whom this war has been imposed and whose country has come under direct military invasion, consider it our responsibility to deliver our persecuted and oppressed nation from the flames of war. It is on these basis that we send you our message to control this war of occupation launched by your military. Do not exert any further efforts into turning Afghans and the children of America into sacrificial animals for an unwinnable war.
In recent times all international research and analysis institutes agree that the American military mission in Afghanistan has reached a slowly deteriorating stalemate. If the American forces insist on continuing the occupation of our country and preventing us from living an honorable and free life then obviously, war is our necessity and at the same time our lawful right. But perhaps this futile war is not your necessity. In such a state it is the responsibility of American officials, as the initiators of war, to bring an end to this tragedy. We call it a tragedy because it is due to your soldiers and your sponsored militias that our sinless children, women and innocent youth are killed daily throughout the country and they continue to lose their homes, businesses, hospitals and farms. It is due to the barbaric airstrikes of your army that whole villages are turned into graveyards like in the case of Kunduz and the Afghan people endure their lives in a climate of fear and terror due to your night raids and bombings.
Just as this war has proven fruitless for you both militarily and politically, it has also morphed into a mark of shame for you morally and ethically where it is either your own soldiers or armed gangs under your patronage that are regularly implicated in war crimes.
President of America!
Perhaps some contents of this letter will prove bitter for your taste. But since they are realities and tangible facts, they must be accepted and treated as bitter medicine that is taken by patients out of fear of seeing their condition deteriorate.
Spokesman of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Zabihullah Mujahid
2017/1/25م
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