Put positive spin on Afghanistan, Ghani asks media

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani has asked the media to stop spreading the “gloom and doom” narrative and instead put a more positive spin on Afghanistan’s future.

In an interview with a German media outlet, the president said: “The more the media talks about these doom-and-gloom scenarios, the more it encourages people to leave.”

Speaking to Der Spiegel, Ghani urged news organisations to highlight the opportunities available in the country, even in the most difficult of times, including war.”

Under the current circumstances, the president, acknowledged there was a probability of a civil war in the country. However, he added it did not have to come to that.

After the combat mission formally came to an end in 2014, he recalled, everybody feared a looming demise of the republic.

“But we made it work. Please take into consideration that all of this is also a question of narrative: The more the scenario of destabilization is spread, the more we are confronted with violence here,” Ghani remarked.

He respected the Biden administration’s strategic decision on ending America’s presence in Afghanistan after almost two decades of war.

The president believed any expression of anger, resentment or disappointment over the departure of international forces would not be productive.

“I myself have never opposed a US withdrawal — nor do I waste my time on regrets. The question now is where our common interests lie in the future and how we will reshape our partnership with the US.”

The Afghan security forces were capable of safeguarding their homeland after the exit of foreign troops, he insisted.

Afghan leaders were trying to establish a state council to organise the peace process and resistance to the Taliban. The president added.

Once the Taliban realised they could not remove the government, they would need to embrace peace, he said.

“The question of peace or hostility is now in Pakistan’s hands. Pakistan operates an organised system of support,” the president continued.

He accused Pakistan of lending logistic and financial support to the Taliban, where they recruited fighters. Taliban’s decision-making bodies like the Quetta Shura, Miramshah Shura and Peshawar Shura were named after Pakistani cities, he noted.

Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Qamar Bajwa assured him during his recent visit to Kabul that the revival of the Taliban regime was not in anybody’s interest in the region, especially Pakistan.

Ghani branded the Taliban as criminals killing innocent people. In this regard, he referred to the attack on a girls’ school in Kabul, in which 85 people were killed.

Ghani told the interviewer: “I know I am only one bullet away from death. There have been many attempts on my life. But Afghanistan is not South Vietnam, and I did not come here as a result of a coup.

“I was elected by the people. I’ve never had an American bodyguard or an American tank protecting me.”

No power in the world could convince him into leaving Afghanistan, he said. “It is a country I love, and I will die defending (it).”

PAN Monitor/mud

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