The former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on CNN Dec. 23: “The reality on the ground is that the Taliban are now the de facto authorities in the country.” He welcomed the UN Security Council action, temporarily removing the block of sanctions from the delivery of aid, saying that it is “maybe not enough, but it is a start.”
Karzai became the President of Afghanistan in December 2001, following the U.S./NATO invasion. Asked whether the international community should work with the Taliban, he said: “Definitely there will be instances when they have to work with the reality on the ground.” And he was clear, the Taliban is the reality on the ground. When challenged on the UN report on instances of executions and charges of torture and atrocities by the Taliban, Karzai would not countenance such divisive techniques: “The issue of atrocities is unfortunately a part of our lives. Atrocities have been committed on all sides.… The suffering from atrocities is on all sides.” He recounted multiple examples on all sides, especially the bombing of villages by Americans and suicide bombings in cities by Taliban; and concluded that Afghanistan has been suffering for some other peoples’ designs. That has to stop. Now we must plan for our future. That is the way forward.
