A dark day for the UAE. The death of five Emiratis and the wounding of the UAE ambassador to Afghanistan in an attack in Kandahar is one of the deadliest days for the UAE since the country was founded.
For a small, young nation that has always been open to the world, the attack is extraordinarily painful. Many will know the five slain Emiratis personally; all of us, citizens and expatriates, will mourn them.
But it will not change our country or our policies. The Emiratis were carrying out humanitarian work in Afghanistan, serving the ideals of the UAE with distinction, and we should all take pride in their courage. Any terrorist attack is a heinous crime, but this was particularly outrageous as it targeted those who were bringing development to the country.
The Emiratis were in Kandahar laying the foundation stone for an orphanage and to sign an agreement with a university so that the UAE could provide scholarships for Afghan children. Those are goals that should be shared by all – instead, they were the backdrop to this horrific crime.
Yet this attack, however painful, is not merely an attack on the UAE. There were at least seven others killed in the attack, all of whom have families and friends who will also be in mourning. For this was an attack on humanity, on the very idea of what the international community is seeking to achieve in Afghanistan.
Pause for a moment to consider what the UAE and others are aiming to create in Afghanistan. Stability. Prosperity. The rule of law. A chance for a better life, not for some, but for all. Look at the mission the Emiratis were on: looking after those without parents and educating a new generation.
Contrast that with what those who carried out the attack want, and ask, what is the end point of all this blood and chaos? Is it a better life? A better Afghanistan? Because there is no vision behind such violence. There is no political idea that they are aiming to create. No moral idea they are defending. It is merely destruction, blind and angry: the worst instincts of humans targeting those who were engaged in the best.
This country will not give in to such hate. As a country, we arecommitted to our values and committed to Afghanistan. We understand that this attack had nothing to do with the Afghan people.
Our country’s relationship with Afghanistan is long, deep and warm. We have welcomed Afghans to the UAE to work, study and do business. And we have sought to help the country at various points in its sometimes troubled recent history. Since 2001, after the Taliban was toppled, the UAE sent troops as part of the Nato mission and we have been involved in training the country’s armed forces. That will not change.
Nor will our values change. That this attack took place at the start of the Year of Giving highlights how important such humanitarian aid is. One of the guiding principles of the UAE is helping the oppressed – and we will certainly not be deterred from living up to our highest ideals by those who are motivated by the lowest instincts.
In that, it can be seen how different we as a nation and all those who work for the good of Afghanistan are from the destructive forces that fight against us. Their treachery will not stop us, because we are guided by higher principles.
Nor will our commitment to fighting terrorism be swayed. This attack highlights how important it is that all countries assist in fighting this scourge. This country has taken the lead against terrorism, because we recognise that terrorism is not an internal matter. It bleeds across borders. The ideology that motivates young men and women to kill themselves is not one that any religion will recognise. It is simply a political idea that has caused far too much suffering – and must be defeated.
We are ready to honour the memory of those who died. And we will do so by remembering their service to the ideals we hold dear, and holding those ideals higher and shining them brighter.
