The Afghanistan fiasco sends shockwaves throughout al-Qamishly, al-Hassakeh, and Baghdad.
August 26, 2021, 9:13 am

The Afghanistan fiasco sends shockwaves throughout al-Qamishly, al-Hassakeh, and Baghdad.

Sami Moubayed

Rumor has it that Mu’ammar al-Ghaddafi spent the evening of 13 December 2003 at his office in Tripoli, silently watching reruns of Saddam Hussein’s capture outside his hometown of Tikrit. Gaddafi ordered his aids, advisers, and family members to leave the room, as he kept repeating the video of his former colleague hiding in a deep hole, unkempt, with a bushy beard and matted hair. It sent shivers down the spine of the Libyan leader, who decided—right there and then—to avoid a similar fate by making friends with the Americans. He moved heaven and earth to give himself a political facelift, surrendering his country’s arsenal and dismantling Libya’s nuclear program, but that was seemingly not enough to save him from a fate that was no different from that of Saddam. He too was toppled by a US-led invasion just eight years later, and was found hiding in culvert west of Sirte, from which he was dragged, humiliated, and executed on 20 October 2021.

Ten years later, rumor has it that Syrian Kurds and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustapha al-Kadhimi spent the night of 18 August 2021 watching reruns of Afghani President Ashraf Ghani departing from Kabul as the Taliban overran his country. The speedy departure, with little pomp or ceremony, sent shivers down the spine of America’s allies in the Arab World. Men who had built their entire fortunes of American support suddenly felt abandoned, afraid, and very vulnerable. The abandonment of Ashraf Ghani was no different from what the Americans did to Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran in 1979 or to Egyptian President Husni Mubarak in 2011. It was the first of its kind under President Joe Biden, however, a veteran statesman who many believed would be wiser and more nuanced than his predecessors.

Fears in Syria

In Kurdish-held territories east of the Euphrates River in northeast Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are unsure of what to make of Joe Biden after what happened in Afghanistan. His predecessor, President Donald Trump, had twice threatened to walk out on them, leaving them to fight an uphill battle against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which they would have certainly been exterminated. The Turkish leader waited patiently for the Americans to leave Syria in order to send his troops to overrun their bases in Qamishly and al-Hassakeh, forcefully dismantling all embodiments of statehood that they had established since 2014. On both occasions, however, Trump backed down on his decision, convinced by his advisers to stay in Syria in order to prevent an ISIS comeback, counter Iranian presence in government-held territory, and “keep the oil.” Syria is now a low-priority on Biden’s Middle East agenda, but given his decision to disengage military from the region, he might suddenly decide to withdraw troops from Syria, which would be a nightmare for the Kurds. Many of them seem convinced, however, that because of the bad publicity that Biden got in Afghanistan, he will think twice before repeating such a withdrawal from Syria.

Worry in Baghdad

Next door in Iraq, Prime Minister Kadhimi is weighing his options. Since coming to power in mid-2020, he has relied heavily on the Americans to stay in offfice, promising to dismantle Shiite-backed militias like Kataeb Hezbollah and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). He took jabs at both, ruining his reputation within the Shiite community from which he hails. Shiite MPs who voted for him last year are waiting for Iraq’s next parliamentary elections in October, after which they plan to eject him from power and have him replaced him with someone who is less pro-American and more sympathetic to Iranian interests in Iraq. Behind closed doors, they describe him as unfaithful, ungrateful, and unpatriotic. Kadhimi was badly in need of a success story to polish his image within the Iraqi street, especially among the Shiite community. Last month he headed to Washington DC where he met with President Biden at the White House and sealed off a deal to withdraw American combat troops from Iraq by December 2021. News of the agreement was supposed to please Iraqi Shiites and serve him well, before events started unraveling in Afghanistan. Shiite militias grinned at news of the Kadhimi-Biden agreement, hoping to overrun Baghdad the day after the Americans leave Iraq. Iraqi Sunnis who back Kadhimi are worried, with due right, fearing that Biden will abandon them to Shiite militias just like he abandoned Ashraf Ghani to the Taliban.

Realizing just how problematic a full withdrawal would be, President Biden immediately added a clause to the agreement, telling reporters: “Our role in Iraq will be to continue to train, to assist, to help, and to deal with ISIS as it arises, but we’re not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission.” Whether or not such an assurance will calm the situation in Iraq is yet to be seen, as aftershocks of the Afghanistan fiasco continue to vibrate throughout Baghdad.

by: Sami Moubayed

UAE increases baggage allowance on flights to Beirut to assist crisis torn country 10 people killed and many injured in Kabul airport explosion

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”