Imtiaz Gul
The US Senate witnessed an interesting spat between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, on September 17.
Blinken, as usual defended the Biden administration’s handling of Afghanistan before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Most of the Republican and Democrat lawmakers blamed the chaos and worse law and order situation following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last month on President Biden.
While both Republicans and Democrats also targeted Pakistan for its assumed support to the Taliban during the war, Senator Chris Van Hollen nearly tore into much of the testimony that Blinken gave, including his negative focus on Pakistan. The Maryland Senator asked Blinken whether it was not a reality that most of the pro-Taliban decisions Pakistan made were under American pressure and that Pakistan’s interest rested in a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. This was a rare expression of acknowledgement of the role Pakistan has been playing in the Doha peace process and after the Taliban seized power on August 15.
Through his incisive questioning, Senator van Hollen managed to flesh out the contradictions inherent in the Biden administration’s position on Afghanistan as well as the singling out of Pakistan, as most of the US lawmakers tended to do. “We have a government comprised of Taliban, including two members of the Haqqani Network, you know, one of who is wanted for questioning and for violent activities,” the Senator asked and underlined :
I think a number of those countries, at least Pakistan, like India, like the others, have an interest in preventing chaos and civil war in Afghanistan.
Senator Van Hollen put Blinken on the defensive in an incisive interaction. Following are clips from the transcript of the interaction during the Senate hearing.
Senator Van Hollen: ….the level of hypocrisy in this room and this Congress is staggering. You know, we should have more hearings on what happened in Afghanistan, starting with the decision to divert huge amounts of U.S. troops and resources to Iraq in one of the biggest strategic blunders in modern American history, where it is a clear matter of record that Iran has been the biggest beneficiary of that decision.
And let us fast forward now to the Trump administration. I did not oppose the decision of the Trump administration to open up negotiations with the Taliban. Everybody in this room, I suspect, recognized there was no military solution to this conflict, that there had to be a political solution. So, I supported opening up that process. Mr. Secretary, is it not a fact that the Trump administration asked the Pakistani government to release three top Taliban commanders as part of that process?
Secretary Blinken: That is correct.
Senator Van Hollen: And one of them is the person who is now number two, Baradar, right?
Secretary Blinken: That is correct.
Senator Van Hollen: He is the person everybody saw in those photos in Kabul, right?
Secretary Blinken: That is correct.
Senator Van Hollen: Right. And there was another senior commander released, and they began the discussions in Doha?
Senator Van Hollen: They did not include the Afghan government, did they?
Secretary Blinken: That is correct.
Senator Van Hollen: Right. And they, in fact, essentially ordered, pressured the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters, right?
Secretary Blinken: That is correct.
Senator Van Hollen: Many of those fighters involved in the attack on Kabul today, right?
Secretary Blinken: Yes.
Senator Van Hollen: Okay. Now let us see what the negotiation was. Here was the negotiation. I supported the beginning of it. The United States will leave by a date certain, May of this year, right?
Secretary Blinken: Correct.
Senator Van Hollen: You cannot attack American forces, but you can attack Afghan forces with impunity, right?
Secretary Blinken: That is correct.
Senator Van Hollen: That is right. And so, we pick a date, we say to the Taliban you can attack Afghan forces, and then we say, okay, now let us negotiate the future of Afghanistan. Is that not the way it was set up when you walked in?
Secretary Blinken: That is essentially correct, yes.
Senator Van Hollen: There is a saying in Afghanistan that foreigners have the watches, we have the time. And so, the Trump administration, through those negotiations, set it up perfectly for the Taliban. Green light to attack the Afghan forces. No discussion going forward. And then is it not true that the former President criticized President Biden for not pulling out our forces earlier?
Secretary Blinken: I believe that is accurate.
Senator Van Hollen: Let me talk to you a little bit about the future, and I am glad you brought together the ministerial meeting with our NATO partners, with surrounding countries. This will never work if the surrounding countries do not participate and others in the region. You had both Pakistan and India at the table, right?
Secretary Blinken: That is right.
Senator Van Hollen: Okay. So, I have heard you testify today to some of those conditions, free and safe passage for people who want to leave, right?
Secretary Blinken: Right.
Senator Van Hollen: Okay. Access by international humanitarian organizations directly to the Afghan people, not through any Taliban, right? Protection of girls, women, and minorities. Fourth, you cannot use the territory of Afghanistan as a base for future terrorist attacks, whether it is Al Qaeda or anybody else, right? And a more inclusive government because, right now, we have a government comprised of Taliban, including two members of the Haqqani Network, you know, one of who is wanted for questioning and for violent activities.
Secretary Blinken: That is right.
Senator Van Hollen: All right. What — do you have that buy-in from all the partners around the table that we will act in unison?
Secretary Blinken: We do have that buy-in. We have that buy-in in the statements that many countries have signed onto. We have that in a U.N. Security Council resolution that we initiated, and critically, we have moving forward established an ongoing group of countries and institutions that are going to work together to track this, to continue to make sure we are speaking with one voice and acting in unison.
Senator Van Hollen: Got it.
Secretary Blinken: Now there are countries that may be outliers in this — in this effort. Some of them have been referenced to include — to include China, to include Russia, to include Pakistan, and that is something that we are being very vigilant about as well.
Senator Van Hollen: Well, I think a number of those countries, at least Pakistan, like India, like the others, have an interest in preventing chaos and civil war in Afghanistan. And obviously, we asked them to release prisoners that they had locked up, Taliban prisoners. But let us all work together to achieve the goal of a stable Afghanistan that protects the rights of its people.
