Afghanistan: The candidate who mocked his own death squad

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Amrullah Saleh wrote his will because he felt they were going to kill him. He was not too wrong. Two months ago, a death squad tried to end his life. Although they could not, in their attempt they ended up with 30 lives, including those of many politician's friends. Saleh pays the price of being former Chief of Intelligence and, today, a member of Ashraf Ghani's candidacy. "The entire nation of Afghanistan is the goal, so I don't feel as different as most Afghans," he says sincerely.

Fearful of another attack, the aspirant receives this newspaper in his almost bunker. The headquarters of his party was destroyed on the first day of the election campaign. Shortly after he entered the building, full of followers, two car bombs exploded. Then, five gunmen rushed to hunt him. It was the beginning of a seven-hour bloody assault that Saleh and his personal circle, including his secretary, repelled miracle thanks to the weapons they kept on the terrace, where they managed to take refuge.

"While I was waiting to decide whether to shoot to kill or die shot, I thanked God that certain people were not with me at that time. At the same time, I wished there were no guests, and that I was the only victim," recognizes the candidate for vice president with Ghani. "The reality is that all this is nonsense. They simply kill," he says, referring to the Taliban. "Imagine that, as a matter of fact, they declared themselves winners. Of what? There is no way for them to govern."

Not surprisingly, Saleh has become the number one enemy of the Taliban and therefore tops his list of targets. "Every time I hear news of one of his attacks I feel two things: the first is weakness, because I know that if I were in power I would minimize this situation, like when I was in charge; the second is determination. If you don't stand firm, do you? who will do it? We have resources, men and an image. If we don't stand up, how will the civilian population do it? "

On the fundamentalists, the politician and former combatant - he was a member of the Northern Alliance led by Ahmad Shah Masud, the Lion of the Panshir - has only fierce words. "In the 90s they made some sense but, now? They are barely able to articulate a program. You ask them: do you want free media? And they tell you: 'We want free Islamic media.' But what exactly is that? The same it happens with the rights of women ... look, the Quran says there is no coercion in religion. "

Along these lines, the candidate in the peephole of the radicals despises the negotiations that the United States and the Taliban held . "That Trump withdrew from the dialogue was logical. The way of negotiating made the Taliban grow. The problem now is how to deflate them. One reason for such recent violence was the unnecessary enlargement of the Taliban. Your strength is useful if it supports you a political discourse, a popular narrative. But, with its negotiation, the US envoy slapped our narrative. "

Kabul has insistently criticized his exclusion from the talks, fearing being subject to the issuance of an eventual road map agreed between Washington and the extremists and, therefore, in a weak position. According to Amrullah Saleh, the ideal solution "is difficult, but worthy. The US should tell the Taliban that we want a political solution, but within the framework of the Republic of Afghanistan. And that Washington remain behind us, letting us negotiate." "The United States," he continues, "should leave us with micromanagement and take care of macro-management. Go to the Pakistanis and tell them to push the Taliban to negotiate, that we are willing to talk. It must be a process led by the Afghan Government." ".

There are those who believe that it is the position of the former spy chief, language and radically opposed to the Taliban, which has spurred the desire to see him dead. Although he has moderated his position during the campaign, advocating a political solution to the conflict with the fundamentalists, Amrullah Saleh makes clear what his Spanish reference is: "Not in politics but, in enemy management, my strategy is that of Hernán Cortés, my hero: 'Either you do what I tell you or it is the end of your days'. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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