Afghanistan’s Collapse: A Result of Corruption, Power Struggles, and Failed Leadership

Kokcha News Agency – According to sources from both American and Afghan officials, the initial plan was for the Taliban to enter Kabul and take over the government, with Ghani and other Republic officials being integrated into a coalition government led by the Taliban. However, Ghani refused to relinquish power, insisting that any coalition government should remain under his leadership as president.

Hamid Karzai, on the other hand, hoped that by forming such a coalition and removing Ghani, the Taliban would appoint him as the president of this new government. Karzai had been lobbying for the Taliban, believing he could lead a coalition of the Taliban and the Republic.

Ghani’s stubbornness in holding onto power, combined with Karzai and Abdullah’s lobbying for the Taliban, and the U.S.’s exhaustion from financing a prolonged and expensive war, ultimately led to Afghanistan’s collapse.

Ghani’s corrupt and ineffective government, riddled with ethnic favoritism, along with the Taliban’s rise and the lack of a unified national strategy from Afghan leaders, created a perfect storm. The U.S., facing its own financial crises and other global conflicts, could no longer sustain its involvement in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden stated that the U.S. had repeatedly urged Afghan leaders to combat corruption, but they failed to do so. Instead, Afghan politicians presented personal agendas to American officials, each claiming they could rebuild Afghanistan better if supported by the U.S.

Ultimately, the price of this collapse was not paid by Ghani, Karzai, Abdullah, or even the Taliban and the Haqqani network. The cost was borne by the innocent and oppressed people of Afghanistan, who continue to pay with their lives, and by Afghan women, whose lives have been devastated.