From Blood to Water: The Bitter Irony of Dostum’s Threats and Taliban’s Canal

In one of the most ironic twists in recent Afghan history, the Taliban government—once dismissed as a backward militia incapable of governance—is now on the verge of completing the ambitious Qosh Tepa irrigation canal, a transformative infrastructure project in northern Afghanistan. And where, exactly, is this development taking place? Near the infamous Dasht-e-Leili—the site of one of the most gruesome war crimes of the 21st century: the alleged massacre of thousands of Taliban prisoners under the command of General Abdul Rashid Dostum.

And now, in a grotesque display of arrogance and delusion, Dostum—exiled and comfortable in Turkey—is once again rattling the sabers of ethnic war and carnage. During an Eid gathering in June 2025, he issued a chilling warning to the Taliban, invoking the memory of Dasht-e-Leili and hinting at a “similar blockade and massacre,” possibly in the Salang Pass or elsewhere in the north or west of Afghanistan. This was not a rhetorical flourish or a slip of the tongue—it was a veiled threat of renewed bloodshed, a callback to the brutal tactics that once disfigured the Afghan landscape in the early 2000s.

Let us not forget: General Dostum’s words do not come from a place of moral authority. He is a relic of a bloody, discredited past—one that most Afghans are desperate to bury. He served as Vice President during Ashraf Ghani’s first term, a government that ultimately collapsed like a house of cards in 2021, leaving behind chaos, betrayal, and despair. His legacy is soaked in warlordism, ethnic division, and unchecked brutality. The massacre at Dasht-e-Leili—where truckloads of Taliban prisoners reportedly suffocated to death or were executed and dumped in mass graves—is not some battlefield myth. It is a documented, investigated atrocity—a likely war crime—chronicled by journalists and human rights organizations alike.

And yet here he is, issuing threats from Ankara as if history has forgotten. It has not.

The irony cuts even deeper. While ex-warlords in exile speak of violence, the Taliban government—quietly and effectively—has imposed nationwide security and control. Their past is indisputably brutal, and their current governance includes deeply problematic policies—especially the ongoing exclusion of women from education and work. But despite all that, they have achieved something that two decades of U.S.-backed regimes and billions in foreign aid utterly failed to deliver: peace. Cities are stable, highways are safe, and for the first time in years, farmers and engineers are building instead of fleeing.

The Qosh Tepa canal, once dismissed as a fantasy, is nearing completion. If successful, it will irrigate more than 500,000 hectares of land and generate employment for hundreds of thousands. This is not symbolic—it is transformative. It represents a break from the cycle of war, a pivot toward national reconstruction.

But Dostum and his ilk would rather stoke the flames than irrigate the fields.

Even more alarming is the sheer delusion about the global and regional strategic landscape. The world is not interested in another Afghan war. Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan—even the Central Asian republics—have all prioritized regional stability. The United States has walked away. No one is willing to bankroll another ethnic conflict under the false banner of “resistance.” The old formula—warlords, foreign support, ethnic militias—has expired. Dostum is clinging to a playbook the world has already burned.

Yes, Afghanistan’s peace is fragile. Yes, the Taliban’s governance is far from ideal. But peace it is—real, tangible, and embraced by millions of ordinary Afghans who have suffered too much, lost too many, and been deceived too often. That peace is taking root in the very soil where Dostum’s crimes lie buried—peace symbolized by flowing water, not spilled blood.

Instead of apologizing for Dasht-e-Leili, Dostum boasts of it. Instead of helping rebuild the nation he helped ravage, he fantasizes about repeating his crimes. This is not just disgraceful—it is dangerous.

The time of warlords is over. Let the canal flow. Let the wounds of Dasht-e-Leili be remembered—not reopened. And let those who once ruled through terror be remembered for what they truly were: the enemies of peace.

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