Afghanistan. Herat: Following Joe Biden’s victory, senior Afghan politicians congratulated him and Kamala Harris. In a tweet on Sunday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani congratulated Biden as the new president elect of the United States of America.
In separate statements, both Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah posted their archived pictures with Biden. “Congratulations to president-elect Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Afghanistan looks forward to continuing/deepening our multilayered strategic partnerships with the United States–our foundational partner–including in counter terrorism and bringing peace to Afghanistan,” Ghani stated on Twitter.
The chairman of the National Reconciliation Council, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, also congratulated Joe Biden, “I take this opportunity to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden for their momentous win, and also the American people for their historic election turnout.”
No change in US policy toward Afghanistan
Accolades aside, the Afghan people believe Joe Biden will not change anything as long as it was not discussed in any Trump-Biden debates. They think Biden will push the same Trump policy of withdrawing troops from the nation. A university student from Herat said, “We know that Biden made harsh comments since he was the US Vice president in 2010.”
He continued, “Biden once said in his speeches that he was doubtful about a unified Afghanistan from the first. This means we will not see any effects regarding the Afghanistan war.”
While Afghan leaders have began congratulating Biden, thinking he will come with a different approach to the war, the former US vice president is seen a controversial figure by some due to the comments he made years ago. At the time, Biden claimed Afghanistan could not become a unified nation.
The longest war for the US
The current Afghan government continues to rely on the US and its allies for support, including security and economic assistance, since the toppling of the Taliban in 2001. The US hoped to reduce their number of occupying troops in the country following the US-Taliban peace deal, which led to intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha, Qatar on 12 Sept. of this year.
After Trump tweeted his intentions to withdraw US troops and bring them back home by Christmas, Afghans and in particular women, fear an immediate US withdrawal could ruin the 19 years of progress for women’s rights.
Hoping the new administration will continue to support progress
Fawzia Koofi, a member of the Afghanistan negotiation team in Doha, tweeted, “We are looking to a stronger support for the women of Afghanistan under difficult times.” She added that with Kamala Harris being the first female US Vice President, she hopes this will help the world become a better place for women.
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