This post was uploaded on July 31, 2021.
SECTION HYPERLINKS
BACKGROUND
If you were to ask me (an Indian) 'What are your views on Afghanistan?', till about a month back I'd have only responded as - '...another nuisance creating country besides my special neighbor'.
After all, it would have been difficult for me to think of anything good that had come out of that hostile terrain (apart from delicious dry fruits which I savor in my ice-cream). Perhaps, it was the years of terrorism-themed developments emanating from that perennial conflict zone that had led to the formation of this metaphorical 'dust-ball' (the exact word is tumbleweed) in my mind.
Therefore, when I was watching Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi struggling to respond during an interview with a young Afghan journalist, I was taken aback. Lotfullah Najafizada, unlike his Pakistani counterparts, came very well prepared and was sharp (he'd actually give many Indian primetime journalists a run for their money!).
However, it was not until a few days later when I stumbled upon Stephen Sackur's interview on BBC HARDtalk with Amrullah Saleh - the impressive first Vice President of Afghanistan - that I realized my perception of his country may need some course-correction. So, after feasting on more online content related to this ever-so-striking individual, today my compass has switched directions! So much so that I have created an compilation of excerpts from his English speeches and interviews which you can access at the end of this post or from this YouTube link.
Note:
This post is a departure from the usual Mapping & Operations-themed content I post on this professional website. My personal admiration for this charismatic Afghan personality notwithstanding, I believe Amrullah Saleh's story and his views & concerns about his beloved country and the geopolitics affecting the region needs to reverberate, especially considering Afghanistan's current plight in the wake of impending complete US troops withdrawal from the country and the Taliban re-gaining notoriety every passing day.
SALEH'S JOURNEY THUS FAR
Amrullah Saleh has had quite a remarkable journey so far. With roots in destitution but well-built regardless, he narrowly avoided being conscripted into the Soviet-backed Afghan army.
Instead, Saleh joined and trained with rebel groups and rose to prominence in his intelligence-based role with one such group - the Northern Alliance - which, led by its influential military commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, fiercely opposed the Taliban movement and its extremist Islamic ideology.
Following the withdrawal of the Soviets, Saleh mainstreamed into the Afghan Government, and soon enough, his prolific work propelled him to head the N.D.S. - the domestic and foreign Intelligence agency of the country at the age of 32! Besides being a top spymaster, his remarkable clarity of thought & the ability to communicate effectively endeared him to intelligence agencies & governments the world over.
Resenting the then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai's overtures to appease the Taliban, Saleh protested publicly and submitted his resignation thrice. USA - installer of the dummy government - intervened twice only to reluctantly relent the third time. A principled nationalist that he was, he proceeded to create a grass-root movement - Afghanistan Green Trend - to propound his beliefs regarding democracy and reform in order to counter the Taliban.
If it matters what others speak of you, then this glowing tribute by Saleh's colleague in the Afghan Government, the then-National Security Advisor Rangin Spanta, is a testament to his prowess-
“With Amrullah Saleh, the Afghan people have lost a huge treasure of commitment, awareness and experience in this struggle against terrorism, Al Qaeda and the ISI. I can’t think of anyone who will be able to even slightly fill the vacuum that he leaves behind. Besides being a highly efficient chief at the N.D.S., he is a man of knowledge and research with an incredible memory and intellect. When he analyzed issues at international meetings, he exhibited tremendous ability at logical reasoning. He was head and shoulder above others."
"I had many differences in arguments with him, but I always saw his presence at the N.D.S. as a huge advantage to this country and this government. Despite my high respects for the president’s decisions, I am extremely mournful about Saleh’s departure. Extremely mournful."
Saleh was able to resolve his differences with the next Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and resumed his ties with the Government, going on to serve in senior positions such as that of the Interior Minister. During the short stint, he made considerable progress in reducing the alarming crime rates and corruption in urban centres of Afghanistan. Subsequently, Saleh decided to contest elections as part of Ghani's team and became the First Vice President of Afghanistan in February 2020, the office which he continues to serve till the time of writing this post (July, 2021).
SALEH'S IDEALS
While 'disguise' is a top trait of spies, this sincere tribute (refer Video 1) from a keen disciple to his martyred master is quite telling about Saleh's character and motivations.
Two aspects struck me in particular -
a) the thirst for intelligence and good information and
b) negotiating selflessly for the cause.
Video 1: Saleh's tribute to his inspiration - Ahmad Shah Massoud
A strong sense of nationalism and democratic values, and a principled stance against the Taliban have been steady partners in Amrullah Saleh's career thus far. From resisting the Afghan Government to becoming one of its leading voices, Saleh's journey has been noteworthy and he continues to espouse the cause of the ethnically-diverse Afghan community the world over.
SALEH'S EXPLOITS
By virtue of being an astute Intelligence professional operating in a vicious terrain, Saleh's exploits scream 'Location-Savvy'. Sharing two of the most remarkable of them-
1. Pinpointing the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden
This was, as would be validated much later, Saleh's claim-to-fame moment. As the Head of National Directorate of Security (N.D.S.) - the Domestic and Foreign Intelligence Agency of Afghanistan, Saleh expanded the reach of his informants and was convinced by as early as 2005! (unheeded by the CIA obviously) -
a) that Osama was not present in Afghanistan contrary to what was widely believed, and
b) triangulated his whereabouts to Mansehra in Pakistan - ~24 kilometres (15 miles) from Abbottabad where he was eventually found and killed six years later
Not only Osama bin Laden, Saleh had also shared intelligence inputs regarding the whereabouts of Ayman al-Zawahiri - another key orchestrator of the September 2001 attacks who was traced and killed much later in 2022 - and the Taliban leadership with the CIA as well.
Saleh had trained with the Anti-Afghanistan Government military resistance group (Mujahideens) in Peshawar, Pakistan as a young adult and, I suppose, his developed connections and familiarity with the terrain helped him source quality intelligence inputs.
Saleh continues to insist that the top brass of Taliban, unlike its foot soldiers, do not operate from remote mountain caves in Afghanistan or from the permeable tribal areas around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border (FATA). Rather, they lead luxurious lives in settled areas / cities of Pakistan.
2. Escaping a brutal assassination attempt in 2019
Saleh's success in negating the Taliban and Urban Crime made him a 'legitimate target' for criminal networks, terrorist outfits and their masters - Pakistan's military and intelligence establishment / ISI, of whom he is a very vocal critic of as they have continued to use Afghanistan as an instrument of Strategic Depth in their conflict with India. It would therefore, come as no surprise to you to know that Saleh has been subject to several assassination attempts, each more cunningly plotted than the previous failed attempt. That he has escaped unscathed so far can be attributed to preparation, agile response & good fortune (read: The Nine Lives of Amrullah Saleh).
These were particularly useful on 28th July 2019 when six Suicide Bombers laid siege on Saleh's office. The attack was meticulously planned - it took the terrorists six minutes to reach Saleh - from entering the fortified street in a bomb-rigged vehicle to launching a fierce assault on the heavily-guarded office building and reaching Saleh's fourth floor office. One can only imagine the tremendous fortitude that Saleh would have had to conjure - from being in a state of daze to regaining composure and devising an ultra-quick safety response.
Saleh had pre-empted such an eventuality and designed the layout to allow himself private access to the Building's roof where he hid a large cache of weapons. Together with his inner security entourage, they set up strategic retaliatory positions when the terrorists came knocking. An intense hour-long battle ensued following which they managed to jump off to the neighboring building and continued to fight till additional help arrived, enabling Saleh to escape. The ordeal lasted for six hours in total and more than twenty people died. In the video below, Saleh recounts the details of the harrowing incident while taking a journalist on a tour of the destroyed site (Video is in Pashto language).
A curtailed video on the same with English subtitles can be found here and an interview on the subject matter in New York Times can be read from here - An Afghan Candidate Wrote His Will, Then Survived a Suicide Squad.
Video 2: Saleh recounting the assassination attempt at his office
There are other episodes involving Saleh which are highly gripping. Consider these two-
Incident 1: An act of incredulity in the immediate aftermath of the July 2019 attack (The New York Times)-
Incident 2: Identifying an impostor claiming to represent Taliban commander Mullah Mansour (Wikipedia) -
SALEH'S VIEWS AND VISION FOR AFGHANISTAN SUMMARIZED
Due to substantive work at the grass-root level, deep involvement in intelligence & security matters, and a strong sense of nationalism, the voice of Amrullah Saleh carries considerable weight and should be a guiding light for those who want to understand the geopolitics involving and surrounding Afghanistan and its people who have been under one invasion after another for the past four decades.
So what are Saleh's beliefs, views and vision for his beloved country?
I have summarized what I've gathered below, however, I'd recommend that you choose to hear from the man himself in this excerpts compilation I've made from his speeches and interviews. You will be amazed to see how accurate his assessments were, given Afghanistan's current predicament.
Video 3: Compilation of Amrullah Saleh's excerpts depicting views, beliefs and vision for his country
Here are 5 common themes that I've observed from Saleh's publicly aired footage-
a) A pluralistic society is the only solution for long-lasting peace in Afghanistan. Saleh always maintains that 'negotiating a deal with the Taliban' is unwise. Rather than seeking appeasement, the Taliban should choose to integrate with the society and live by its democratic values. They must not be given any leeway whatsoever to impose their beliefs on the citizens of Afghanistan.
b) While the USA / NATO armed forces are leaving Afghanistan because of the fatigue associated with the prolonged war against the Taliban as well as shifting national interests (China), however, their mission to secure Afghanistan's transition into a stable, democratic future is still not fulfilled. Complete troop withdrawal is likely to descend Afghanistan to pre-2000 civil strife. Saleh warns that a short period of ceasefire should not be misconstrued as a sign of everlasting peace as the Taliban, at their core, remain an extremist ideological organization and will continue to spread fear and violence whenever they see a window of opportunity. That being said, Saleh is confident that the Afghans will continue to resist and will prevail eventually as they are much better equipped to deal with Taliban's threat now, drawing from the learnings from their previous experience under the rule of the very same oppressive clerical dictatorship.
c) Pakistan's military establishment/ ISI's continued support of the Taliban is the root-cause behind Afghanistan's perennial state of misery. Saleh claims that Pakistan, by virtue of being a major non-NATO ally, has escaped being brought to task for its misdeeds thus far. While it is openly known now that Pakistan harbors the Taliban leadership and supports its nefarious activities, Saleh insists that this is not done by some rogue elements within the Pakistan military establishment as some believe, rather, it is the establishment's stated policy to keep Afghanistan in a constant state of turmoil to obtain strategic depth against India and to milk monetary aid from the West. Saleh reveals that the use of militant extremism acts as an outer ring of deterrence in Pakistan's quest to safeguard its nuclear assets.
d) India is a strong regional supporter of Afghanistan's cause. Saleh indicates that India has enormous goodwill in the hearts of the Afghans as it promotes development and democratic values in the country and does not have a selfish agenda as other countries do. Moreover, India and Afghanistan share a common foe in the form of Pakistan and therefore, should collaborate on security parameters to deal with the nuisance.
e) Afghanistan comprises a proud but an ethnically diverse group of people - a demographic reality which countries and groups exploit to good effect. However, he reckons that there is not enough literature highlighting the strong national bonds of the Afghan people. The very fact that they continue to survive in such hostile conditions where anyone else would have crumbled, is a testament to the collective resilience of the citizens and the global order should acknowledge this reality as well.
CLOSING REMARK
The current situation in Afghanistan represents a battle between a group of stubbornly violent people and a group of violently stubborn people. The latter - Amrullah Saleh and the people of Afghanistan - deserve better and one hopes that they continue to thwart the actions of the former - misguided fundamentalists in the shape of Taliban - and uphold the rule of democracy and law in the country.
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