Why Afghanistan Works Better Without the Republic’s Crooks

By any measure of integrity or impact, Mirwais Azizi has done more for Afghanistan in the last six months than the entire circle of exiled warlords and self-proclaimed patriots did in 20 years of holding power and looting international aid.

Azizi’s recent actions—funding stranded Afghan students abroad, aiding refugees deported from Iran, and pledging billions for energy and health infrastructure, expose a bitter truth: progress is finally possible now that Afghanistan is no longer in the hands of U.S.-installed puppets, war criminals, and sectarian kleptocrats.

And yet, the loudest objections to this progress come from the very figures responsible for the decades of corruption, violence, and dysfunction that brought Afghanistan to its knees, figures like Amrullah Saleh, a man who now specializes in tweeting hollow rants while contributing absolutely nothing to the survival of the people he once claimed to represent.

While Azizi Builds, Saleh makes empty noise

Let’s start with the facts. In July 2025, Mirwais Azizi committed $500,000 through his foundation to rescue the education of 95 Afghan students stranded in Kyrgyzstan after American scholarships were canceled. These are real students, with names, classes, and aspirations, not some imaginary “Taliban propaganda” targets, as Saleh might want you to believe.

Then, Azizi turned to the crisis of Afghan refugees deported from Iran, over a million vulnerable returnees. While the so-called Afghan “leaders” abroad remain silent, Azizi pledged 1 billion Afghanis (~$14–15 million) to provide immediate assistance in Herat, one of the regions hardest hit.

And that’s not all. He also announced a $10 billion investment plan in Afghanistan: 10,000 megawatts of energy, a full medical university and hospital complex, orphanages, women’s health services, housing for medical staff, a real national project, not another donor-funded ghost program like those Saleh’s government used to advertise and embezzle.

Yet, in response, Amrullah Saleh sneered. On Twitter, he accused Azizi of orchestrating a “mafia advertisement” to serve “hidden interests,” and dismissed the entire $10 billion project as a fabricated PR stunt by the Taliban to buy legitimacy. This wasn’t just criticism. it was a desperate attempt to discredit real progress in order to preserve the fantasy that nothing good can happen without him and his circle in charge.

This is rich, coming from a man whose own legacy includes decades of failing to provide even basic services, fueling corruption, and watching billions in aid vanish into thin air under his watch.

The Rotten Record of the Past Regime

Let’s not romanticize the past. For 20 years, Afghanistan was handed historic amounts of international aid, nearly $2 trillion in total international spending, with $145 billion in aid and reconstruction funds alone. What did Saleh and his circle do with it?

• Rampant corruption at every level of the republic.
• Warlordism repackaged as democracy, where criminals ruled by ethnicity, gun, and foreign contract.
• No functional health system, no energy grid, no plan to integrate returnees or build a future.

Even Afghan students abroad, once sponsored by U.S. grants, found themselves abandoned, caught between a collapsed embassy and an unaccountable opposition in exile. And now, when someone like Azizi steps up to fill the gap, they rage, because he exposes their utter uselessness.

The New Reality: Stability Enables Progress

Let’s be blunt: this level of investment, coordination, and philanthropy could not happen under the previous U.S.-backed regimes. Why?

Because there was no real state. Just competing power brokers, each looting their fiefdom while presenting photo ops to Washington.

Today, under the current Islamic Emirate, however controversial, there is basic security, national coordination, and a functioning environment for investors and NGOs to operate. Azizi’s projects, energy, health, education, are only possible because the state apparatus finally allows for consistent policy and protection.

Let’s be clear: the Taliban’s bans on girls’ education and women’s work are wrong, harmful, and indefensible, and they must be reversed if Afghanistan is to have any moral and social legitimacy. But even within that flawed context, it is undeniable that a level of national stability now exists that allows progress in infrastructure, investment, and public services, something the warlord republic never achieved.

You don’t have to love the Taliban to acknowledge that reality. But you do have to be honest. And that’s exactly what critics like Saleh refuse to be. They don’t care about results. They care about relevance. And Azizi’s success makes their failure undeniable.

Afghan Lives Matter More Than Exile Egos

Azizi’s work is not symbolic. It is saving lives, educating students, and employing people. Meanwhile, Saleh’s contribution consists of smearing those who act while he types in English from safe exile, lecturing the world about “legitimacy.”

But legitimacy is earned, not proclaimed. And right now, Azizi has it, on the ground, with the people, where it counts.

Let’s not mince words: the warlords, technocrats, and their social media avatars failed Afghanistan. They had decades and billions. They left a country hollowed out by corruption and division.

If a businessman with no political position, operating under a new regime, can accomplish in one year what they never did in twenty, then the choice is clear: support what works, not what flatters exiles’ delusions.

Conclusion: Let the Builders Build

Mirwais Azizi doesn’t need Amrullah Saleh’s approval. He has the trust of Afghan students, the gratitude of deported families, and the attention of communities watching his massive investments unfold.

This is what real leadership looks like: not hashtags, not slogans, not bitter rants, but concrete action.

It’s time to let the ghosts of the failed republic fade. Afghanistan has suffered enough. Let the builders build—and let the talkers fade into irrelevance.

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