Afghanistan Peace CampaignHowever, some political analysts believe that Pompeo’s comments are not correct. They hold the US responsible for Afghanistan’s severe problems.
Former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discusses the issues of Afghanistan, the former leaders of the country and the Doha Peace Agreement in his recently published book.
Pompeo referred to Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan, as a “total fraud” in a section of his book, “Never Give an Inch, Fighting for the America I Love.”
Pompeo also said in his book that Ghani wasted the lives of American soldiers for his goals.
Some Afghans, however, took issue with these remarks: “Ashraf Ghani wanted a nationwide peace so that there would be no excuse for war. We disagree with the remarks of Pompeo,” said Kamal Sadat, the former deputy of youth of the Ministry of Information and Culture.
“With big management, he (Ghani) created administrative corruption … around his people. He left a collapsed, failed government,” said Sayed Noorullah Raghi, a political analyst.
“He wants to put the fault of Pompeo and Donald Trump on the shoulders of Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah and thus he released this book. There is a possibility that Mike Pompeo will participate in the presidential election of 2024,” said Janat Fahim Chakari, a political analyst.
In one section of his book, the former secretary of state of the United States accused the former leader of Afghanistan of allowing American lives and aid to be wasted.
“I warned him that I would stop the transfer of $1 billion in American assistance if he refused to participate in the reconciliation process,” said Pompeo, adding that Ghani was quick to inform at least one US Senator about the threat.
Moreover, Pompeo called Ghani a “total fraud”, saying that he has met dozens of world leaders, and that Ghani was his least favorite. “Ghani was a total fraud who had wasted American lives and was focused solely on his own desire to stay in power,” Pompeo said.
“Never once did I sense that he was prepared to take a risk for his country that might imperil his power. This disgusted me,” he added.
“What the US officials and (former) US Secretary of State are saying about Ghani is one issue, but in fact Ghani has not trusted the process and even tried to sanction it and while the Doha process was going to be implemented, he left the country and caused the collapse of the whole system,” said Aziz Maarij, former diplomat.
The former US special envoy for Afghanistan’s reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, also said on Twitter that Ghani’s connections with Washington led him to believe the US would maintain a robust military presence in Afghanistan.
“President Ghani felt he could ignore clear messages from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, myself, and other US officials. Pres. Ghani had great familiarity and connections with Washington, members of congress, retired generals, and lobbyists,” he said.
“These connections led him to believe the US would maintain a robust military presence in Afghanistan, despite what he was being told by both administrations regarding American withdrawal. This was a tragic mistake by Pres. Ghani,” said Khalilzad.
However, some political analysts believe that Pompeo’s comments are not correct. They hold the US responsible for Afghanistan’s severe problems.
“They say the Afghan president wasted their money. When the president was in power and announced that 99 percent of the dollars coming to Afghanistan are going back to the foreign countries, why didn’t the US didn’t say anything then?” said Ahmad Ander, a political analyst.
“Ghani tried to remain in power and to scuttle the peace negotiations,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a political analyst.