Afghanistan is in a chaotic situation today primarily as the result of the Cold War. The complexity of the current situation stems from the successive disastrous governing authorities namely the Soviets, the Taliban, the Americans and Karzai's corrupt government. These forces have created a myriad of muddles which got increasingly complicated both on the domestic and the international fronts. Now there is no easy fix.
As the future is closely linked to learning from the past, let us refresh our minds with the general background: the current situation is the result, both intentionally and unintentionally, of Soviet and American powers' vested interests during the Cold War. On the one hand, the CIA funded extremist literature and guerrilla troops in order to ensure a long-lasting resistance against the Soviet invaders. On the other hand, Pakistani intelligence remained a tool for the US because it could save money. After 9/11, the allies changed their mind and suddenly reversed the dominant anti-Soviet rhetoric and ideologies that they had been disseminating for decades. The Taliban turned thus from allies to enemies in the frame of the War on Terror.
For the time being, the a way for the West to help war-torn Afghanistan is by empowering democracy. Not the Karzai style approved by Washington and London but the actual will of the people. Let the Taliban run for elections and come to power to set ground rules. Patience will be required for if it took three decades to build the Taliban force, it might take at least double that time to dismantle it. The most viable solution which would have the longest-lasting impact is education. You can call me an optimist but I see prosperity tied to knowledge giving people a sense of belonging and responsibility, as the only solution. Build schools, build hospitals, build power stations, build roads - and when the Taliban destroy them, build them again.
The Obama Administration may be on the right track by sending in more troops, but it will have to do more than that in order to gain trust of the Afghan people. The CIA's counter plan of securing Pakistan's nukes looks just like its previous pre-emptive actions in taking over Kabul, or securing Islamabad. American involvement defending democracy worldwide is in fact a way for Washington to legitimize its presence in the Greater Middle East. Until this stops being played, there is no solution to Afghanistan or to Pakistan's tribal areas no matter how many troops are sent in. Accept yesterday's mistakes and facilitate a prosperous tomorrow.
Osama Bin Javaid is a Senior Duty Editor at DawnNews TV.
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February 24, 2010
Bernhard Lucke, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Platinum Contributor (503)
Who are the "Taliban" you speak of in this article? They are terrorists, aren't they? At least this is what is usually announced in the media. Those terrorists are treated as "enemy fighters" if they are caught, and neither the Geneva convention, nor any code of civil law applies to them. A murderer in a western country has more rights and a higher social status than these humans, who are taken to Guantanamo or other secret torture concentration camps if they happen to survive daisy cutter and the other precision weapons used to reconstruct Afghanistan.
And you want to educate these terrorists, even ask them to vote?
I'm afraid that the full-scale war which is more and more unfolding in Afghanistan does not allow the luxury of educating the enemy. It appears to me that Afghanistan will slide back into barbarism, not at least as this is the prevailing way of how the western occupation forces deal with their enemies.
"As you shout into the forest, it will sound out of the forest" (a common saying).