Written by: Zubair Afghan
In the past two decades, the collapsed republican regime has consistently grappled with both domestic and foreign challenges. One of the main reasons for the collapse of this regime was its leaders’ boundless trust in the support of the United States of America.
A topic that Shah Mahmud Miakhail, the former deputy defense minister of the Republic, has now addressed in an implicit confession. In a detailed article published by one of the media outlets, Miakhail emphasized that Hamid Karzai and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani “remained excessively dependent on American support due to false intelligence narratives from foreigners, and believed that America would never leave Afghanistan, while America had officially announced its withdrawal in 2014.”
This confession clearly shows that the crucial and vital macro-decisions of the then government were made not based on the will and interests of the people, but on distorted intelligence information and narratives from foreigners, not on field realities.
Fabricated narratives during the republican era were designed and strengthened by countries in the region. The goal of these narratives was to create distrust among prominent figures, politicians, and security leaders so that Afghanistan could not have an independent and stable government.
Based on this confession, Pakistan, within the framework of the ISI, had created an extensive network including media outlets and individuals in the cities of Peshawar, Karachi, and Quetta to disseminate false narratives among the Afghan public and government; narratives that were then presented as reality thru media, social networks, and even some appointed officials in the government.
During the rule of Hamid Karzai and after him Ashraf Ghani, individuals close to the intelligence agencies of neighboring countries infiltrated the government, security institutions, and media to amplify fabricated narratives. This very fact, more than any other factor, caused those at the head of the republican regime to always be under pressure and unable to make independent decisions based on national interests.
Another reason for the failure of the republic was a fundamental weakness in its security and political institutions. Instead of combating foreign influence and destructive projects, the then-National Security Directorate had become a breeding ground for corruption and incompetence.
During this time, the majority of leaders in high-ranking security positions, instead of protecting the country and preventing foreign plots, spent their time conspiring against each other and thinking about securing their personal interests.
As a result, it can be said that the collapse of the republic was the natural outcome of a system built on false narratives, dependence, corruption, and incompetence. Instead of relying on the people, the leaders of this regime sought foreign support thru deception and blatant lies and fell into the trap of fabricated narratives and foreign intelligence analyzes.
This blind dependence prevented them from understanding the realities of Afghan society, and ultimately, their decisions benefited foreigners rather than the nation.
On the other hand, the organized influence of neighboring countries and their extensive activity in the media, political, and security spheres dealt heavy blows to the body of the republic. When aliens were able to replace truth with fabricated narratives using advertising networks and influential figures, it was natural that the will and independence of the leaders at the time would be increasingly weakened.
The expression of these confessions today from the mouths of those who were themselves at the head of the republican regime clearly shows: a country that is run on lies, corruption, and dependence will never see stability and progress.
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