Ever heard the phrase, “history repeating itself” in a long history class, and you just sat there distracting yourself from listening to the teacher giving you an example. Well, then this is the perfect article for you. It seeks to answer the big question: did history repeat itself in Afghanistan?

      According to Iftikhar Gilani AA, the US decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is suspiciously similar to the other events, the return of Dost Mohammad as king in 1842, the Geneva Accord of 1988, negotiations with the Taliban in 1998, and the Doha agreement in 2020. Furthermore, President Biden's sudden announcement of withdrawing forces is evidently similar to the Geneva Accord, which paved the path for the withdrawal of Soviet troops that ended the nine-year-long occupation. Moreover, about 35,000 Soviet soldiers were wounded, according to official Soviet figures. Soon after Soviet forces had completely withdrawn all soldiers on February 15th, 1989, a civil war between the Kabul government led by communists and Mujahideen consumed the country until 1992. This is a stark comparison to the shift in power these days in Afghanistan under Hamid Karzai's government to the Taliban regime. 

        When the US signed a peace agreement with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar on February, 29th, 2020, history was yet again repeating itself. On April 17th, 1998, US representative to the UN, Bill Richardson, had signed a similar peace agreement with the Taliban. This plea led the Taliban to agree on a ceasefire and join talks with the rival Northern Alliance. Furthermore, in 1998 the Taliban had agreed to higher education for women and permit health workers and doctors to treat women, which is equal to what the new Taliban government is saying in 2021; that they will support women's education and let them work freely. Although it is still in question if they have yet again deceived us.  Additionally, Afghan leaders declined the reach of the Taliban in 2011-2012 when the Taliban was weaker and its demands limited.  The parallels between the disastrous retreatment of Soviet forces, the 9/11occupation by the US, and now its withdrawal, are so consistent that they begin to sound like the chorus of a Greek tragedy. 

       After entering Afghanistan in 1979, the Soviet Union's military established a pro-Moscow regime in Kabul. For nine long and devastating years, the Soviets wiped out entire villages and surrounding regions, haphazardly killing civilians and Afghan resistance fighters, otherwise known as the mujahideen. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Russian military for a short period of time continued to finance the Afghans they set up. The cessation of Russian funding in 1992, however, plunged Afghanistan into a humanitarian crisis, which resulted in the Mujahideen, who were once in favor of the Soviet regime, turned against one another in a free for all claim to power. Additionally, this led to a civil war, during which a fierce battle for control of Kabul raged from 1992 to 1996, resulting in Taliban rule until 2001. This internecine fighting resulted in 25,000 deaths in Kabul out of the city's estimated total population of 1.6 million people in 1992.

      Marc Polymeropoulos, a retired CIA analyst. a case officer, and paramilitary officer with expertise and overseas experience in Afghanistan, warns that another humanitarian disaster of comparable scale remains a possibility. Moreover, he said if the reports of Kandahar and Herat falling are true, there's only one site left for the Taliban to capture, where in the past there was horrific civilian destruction.  The security lapse left by America's withdrawal from Afghanistan also carries the risk that Afghanistan could once again become a safe haven for terrorist groups. This same scenario played out with the US abandonment of Kurds in Syria. And now, the world watches once again as America's allies face defeat in the wake of an ill-planned US retreat. 

      The question remains, will the country descend into chaos or will the king return again after the hard lessons? The question awaits an answer in a country filled with unpredictability, which has become the major global talk today. 

Citation: 

Iftikhar Gilani. “Is history once again repeating in Afghanistan?” aa.com.tr/en/analysis/opinion-is-history-once-again-repeating-in-afghanistan/2213506/ Accessed 8/22/2021

Matt Fratus. “The Fall OF Kabul: Is History Repeating Itself In Afghanistan?” coffeeordie.com/history-kabul-afghanistan/ Accessed 8/23/2021

“History repeats itself in the tragedy of Afghanistan” ft.com/content/2daba011-2eee-4374-8e6c-967d9afdfd10/ Accessed 8/23/2021