As much as war has a heavy price, there is a need for tough decisions to bring an end to it. A conflict that has deprived a nation of all opportunities of development and prosperity for almost half a century necessitates actions that may otherwise be considered irrational under normal conditions. To have a bright future, Afghan people need to break with the past and concentrate on a peaceful future. To that end, sometimes actions need to be taken which will be difficult for Afghans as a nation to accept, but their results in the long run will impel Afghan people to swallow the bitter pill.
Afghan government conditionally released three key members of the notorious Haqqani network known for its lethality and heavy-handedness in exchange for two foreign professors of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). The three Taliban prisoners freed are Haji Mali Khan, Hafiz Rashid Omari, and Anas Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani network, and the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the deputy head of the Taliban and current leader of the network. Although these individuals are key leaders of a Taliban faction responsible for the majority of massive and deadly attacks in Afghanistan, the move should be welcome if it can revive the stalled peace process. Afghan government and the Taliban, as the two internal sides of the war, must create a climate of trust for the success of peace talks, and prisoner exchange can prove extremely effective to achieve that goal only when the swap is not interpreted as a weakness by the militants. Both sides should strive to gradually tone down their war rhetoric and build trust by holding out an olive branch.
No doubt, the release of dangerous prisoners like members of the infamous Haqqani network is not an easy decision, and may have a lot of opponents, but Afghan people realize that accomplishing peace has a price, which if not paid will leave the country with one option — the continuation of the war. Afghans have paid a high cost for the war and are poised to pay any price to get out of the current painful situation, which will not threaten the independence, territorial integrity, and national sovereignty of the country and rights of the citizens.
