(VOVworld)- June 19 marks an important milestone in Afghanistan because after the 12-year conflict, Afghan security forces officially took over the duty to ensure the country’s security from the US-led coalition forces. Yet, this transfer of power does nothing to stabilize the security situation in Afghanistan since recent developments in the country blurred people’s optimism about peace here.

After more than 10 year NATO and US have started withdrawal of their equipments from Afghanistan, (File photo).

As scheduled, the Afghan security forces will be responsible for ensuring security in all districts of 34 provinces throughout the country. By the end of this year, the coalition forces in Afghanistan will be halved and by 2014, all of the combat mission will pull out and only a much smaller force will remain to be amiable it need for training and advisory missions for Afghan troops.

However, in contrast to Washington’s optimism that the transfer of power  is an critical milestone showing that the Afghan security forces are strong enough to take the full responsibility for security for there, the Afghan people are not confident with the capability of their security forces in coping with the network of warlike forces. There are some public opinions describing the transfer as a show to heighten the prestige of the Afghan government and show off the fruits of the coalition forces rather than proving the capability of the Afghan security forces. The Taliban recently announced the establishment of a political office in Qatar under the name "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” which aims to open a dialogue with the international community and the Afghan government on a peaceful solution. The US has immediately agreed to participate in this dialogue considering it an important step because the Taliban has long suspended this negotiation until foreign troops pull out from the country. The talk framework will have three periods. In the first period, the US demands that the Taliban cut off contacts with Al Qeada- this is not a prerequisite. The Taliban replied that they did not allow anyone to use Afghanistan’s soil to threaten security of other countries. Next, the US and the Taliban are to negotiate on prisoner exchange from Guantanamo prison and some US soldiers detained by the Taliban in the last four years. Finally, the US will have to persuade the Taliban to hold direct negotiations with President Hamid Karzai. This is the biggest challenge. With the Taliban’s proposal for negotiations, the public hopes that the peace process in Afghanistan will get underway thus ending the 12-year conflict in the country.

The first meeting between the US and the Taliban, however, faced strong opposition from the Kabul government. President Hamid Karzai strongly boycotted negotiations saying that the US government’s words and actions over the peace process in Afghanistan are in conflict. According to Kabul, the negotiations, were cancelled because of the Taliban’s opening an office in Qatar, and hoisting the flag “Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan”, which was the name of the Taliban authority before collapsing in 2001. These activities ran counter to US commitments with Afghanistan. Afghan leaders also condemned the US’s direct and public negotiations with the Taliban outside Afghanistan saying that it would undermine the Afghan government’s role. Though the US said it did not recognize “Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan” and consider the Taliban’s office in Qatar an embassy or a representative office, it insisted that negotiations should be held as scheduled. The Afghan government disapproved strongly and threatened to cancel the negotiations for a bilateral security agreement with the US after 2014.

This is not the first time that allied relations between Washington and Kabul cracks. During the 12 years since it launched a war in Afghanistan, the US and its allies succeeded in overthrowing the Taliban, killing terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden and weakening the Al Qeda terrorist network compared with considerable loss on their side in this span of time. The war in Afghanistan was the longest one that the US has launched overseas costing the US a great deal of property and prestige and the threat of terrorism is still spreading. Though the strength of the Taliban has been reduced in Afghanistan, its activities are expanded in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and many other places.

Anh Huyen