Written by: Hamid Mutarif
In the world of politics, major changes are usually not sudden, but the case of the fall of the republican regime has two sides. One side is that the independence of the country and the fall of the republic were a blessing from Allah Almighty, because the collapse of such a regime was beyond the imagination of almost everyone, yet it fell rapidly. The other side is that the factors for the fall of the republican regime were coming together, gradually growing, bringing the republican regime to the brink of collapse and turning the idea of its fall into reality.
The fall of the Republic was the result of months and years of wrong decisions, misguided policies, and the pursuit of personal interests. The rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s twenty-year republican regime cannot be considered an ordinary event; although some people see it as a coincidence of circumstances, it becomes clear upon examining the realities that the fall of the republic was largely based on factors. It can also be said that some factions within the regime, despite witnessing this day, consciously worked to strengthen these factors and ultimately brought the regime to its end.
A clear reason for this outcome was the influence and monopoly over decisions and changes within the security agencies. The regime’s high-ranking officials removed those commanders and professional generals from their positions under the guise of “reforms,” who had fought for years. Instead, inexperienced individuals were appointed to important military posts, who had no knowledge of warfare and had received their high-ranking general positions thru favoritism; this severely weakened the morale of lower-ranking and other soldiers and caused them to lose their fighting capability.
The excessive concentration of power also played a role in the downfall of the republic. The small triangle gathered in the Arg took all the power into their own hands. Instead of strengthening cooperation and diplomacy with political processes, groups, and the public, they further marginalized the existing political addresses in society. This action further weakened the political support for the republic and completely isolated the regime.
Another important point was the flight of some high-ranking officials and financial investors from the country and the transfer of capital abroad. Before fleeing, the transfer of capital abroad and the preemptive arrangements for their bleak future sent a clear message: the officials themselves were untrustworthy of their own structure. In reality, the officials prioritized their personal interests over the national interests and used various means to secure them.
The sudden flight of high-ranking officials from Kabul brought the final chapter of this regime to an end, filled with bitter truths; regarding these truths, confessions have been made by officials from the Arg to many lower-ranking officials over the past five years, and while they have admitted to some mistakes, they have hidden many more and chosen silence out of fear of public judgment.
Considering all these factors, confessions, and reasons, we reach the conclusion that the downfall of the republic was the anticipated outcome from the beginning of its establishment. However, neither the foreigners nor the internal agents thought about this outcome, nor did they investigate which factors would lead the republican regime to this anticipated reality!?
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