07.01.10
AFGHANISTAN
THE DREAM IS OVER FOR AMERICA: SUFFERING THE SAME FATE AS RUSSIA
Afghanistan is dubbed by some as "the graveyard of empires". Even the Russians should have studied the failures of the British invasions before them more carefully. The mountains never change. Just ask the Soviet Colonels and soldiers of the war they experienced 30 years ago in these same labyrinthine mountains. They will most surely tell you that many of the mistakes that the allies are making are the same; as will the people of the region. The civil war will only intensify and the Taliban will get the upper hand.
Nobody saw this coming when Britain and the US initiated the war against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan back in 2001. The so-called hardened Northern Alliance fighters who had sided with the West did not see it. The experienced British soldiers didn't see it. And the most powerful military force in the world definitely did not see it coming. They all thought they had won the battle in the first couple of months when Kabul fell. Al Qaeda and the Taliban had fled. But after almost nine years since the war began the Mujaheddin of Afghanistan have come back with a vengeance not seen since 1989.
With over 300 British soldiers killed in the war, which is more than Iraq, the allies are feeling the same sting as the Russians did back in that fateful year of 1989, also their ninth year. The war seems futile. The ferocious close combat of the Mujaheddin has been compared to the trench wars of the first world war. Why didn't the British generals see this coming? The tactics used by the Mujaheddin now is the same as that used against the Soviets.
The 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets was a bad mistake from the word go. The conflict, which killed 15,000 Soviet soldiers and over 1.3 million Afghans, ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. At that time the Soviets had 120,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan compared to today's 130,000 US troops. Over 800 US soldiers have died so far. The Russians will tell you that with every day that passed the Mujaheddin just got stronger instead of weaker. It was a no-win situation.
There is something familiar with today's war: the lack of railway, treacherous mountain passes, harsh deserts, and the impenetrable terrain. The Mujaheddin just have to hit and run or die; they cause chaos, confusion and fear in the enemy's heart. The Taliban are an elusive enemy for the allies. They are hard to spot and distinguish from the civilians. They use a network of underground tunnels to vanish after attacking. Every day you hear in the news of a roadside bomb attack and the chaos caused to the allies. These are the same tactics that were used against the Soviets.
Another problem for the allies is disease. The heat is a problem. Pure water and food is hard to come by. The psychological effects of the war is having a toll on the British and US troops after eight years of killing. Most of the conscripts are youngsters and uneducated. The thought of being killed or wounded every time one leaves his base is a frightening thought for even the most hardened men.
What are the objectives of the allies exactly? It is not clear how the war on terror should end. Deploying more troops into the region will do nothing to achieve the desired objective, which is to restore order for the time being. Terrorist attacks are always going to be perpetrated no matter how many troops are in Afghanistan. You can't control that. You also can't control the killing of civilians. Once there's collateral damage, or whatever you want to call it, there will always be hatred towards the occupiers by the Afghans and more love for the Taliban. It is a no-win situation. If Democracy is the goal then there will be a similar situation to Palestine when Hamas won the vote. If the Taliban win a fair election through 'Democracy' then the allies are back to square one.
The US and the West practically ignored Afghanistan's civil war after the Soviet withdrawal. Until the 9/11 attacks that is. On that sunny morning of September 2001, the planes that smashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon signaled a declaration of war for Washington. Eyes immediately turned to Osama Bin Laden, leader of the Al-Qaeda organization, which was based in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. President George W. Bush declared a national state of emergency, and pledged to build an international alliance through NATO and other allies. The objective: to punish Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Why punish the Taliban? It was known that Osama Bin Laden was in Afghanistan since 1996. In fact, the CIA had been monitoring his activities in Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan. The US, under President Clinton, with the help of Egyptian intelligence tried to get Bin Laden from his comfortable sanctuary, but to no effect. By this time, things were heating up between the new enemies of Islam, and Al-Qaeda issued a manifesto stating: 'for more than seven years the US has been occupying the land of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian peninsular, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbours, and turning its bases in the peninsular into a spearhead through which to fight the neighbouring Muslim peoples'.
In 1998 the US fired 70 cruise missiles into Bin Laden's camps around the Khost and Jalalabad areas, in retaliation for the bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Seeing that they didn't get him, the USA offered a five million dollar reward for Bin Laden's capture. The Clinton administration started to demonize Bin Laden and blaming him for every atrocity committed against the USA.
What has haunted Washington the most for decades was their role in all of this terrorism against their own people: It was the CIA who supported the Afghan Mujaheddin against the Soviets. This in turn spawned dozens of fundamental movements across the Muslim world, and when America abandoned Afghanistan it become a haven for militants. Samuel P. Huntington, Political Scientist and author of Clash of Civilizations, wrote: 'The war (against the Soviets) left behind an uneasy coalition of Islamist organizations intent on promoting Islam against all non-Muslim forces. It also left a legacy of expert and experienced fighters, training camps and logistical facilities, elaborate trans-Islam networks of personal and organization relationships, a substantial amount of military equipment including 300 to 500 unaccounted-for Stinger missiles, and, most important, a heady sense of power and self-confidence over what had been achieved and a driving desire to move on to other victories.' -- [Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, c2000, p130]
According to Ahmed Rashid in his book about the Taliban (published in in 2000): A long struggle followed after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops in 1989. The regime of President Najibullah was eventually ousted by the Mujaheddin in 1992 and Kabul was recaptured. This was a devastating psychological blow because for the first time in 300 years the Pashtuns had lost control of the capital. An Internal civil war broke out and Kabul was shelled mercilessly. Afghanistan was in a state of virtual disintegration just before the Taliban emerged at the end of 1994. It was divided into warlord fiefdoms, and bloodshed ensued. The tribal structure and the economy were in tatters. International aid agencies were fearful of even working in Kandahar as the city itself was divided by warring groups. The infrastructure was stripped bare to get money; homes and farms were seized by warlords; young girls and boys were kidnapped; the population was abused at will; and this all led to more refugees leaving Kandahar.
The Taliban (or students of Islam) came with a clear objective: restore peace, disarm the population, enforce Sharia law and defend the integrity and Islamic character of Afghanistan. These Islamic students, mostly from Pakistan, intended to distance themselves from the party politics of the Arab Mujaheddin and signalled that they were a movement for cleansing society rather than a party trying to grab power. They saw themselves as the children of the jihad, the cleansers and purifiers of a guerrilla war gone astray, leaving behind a system of corruption and excess. They learnt about the ideal Islamic society created by the Prophet Muhammed (p) 1,400 years ago and this is what they wanted to emulate. They say that Mullah Omar was chosen as the leader for his piety and unswerving belief, more than his political or military ability. No leader in the world today is surrounded by as much secrecy and mystery. There had been a hidden civil war kept under wraps by this man and the Taliban since 1994. -- [Taliban, Ahmed Rashid, 2000, pp. 21-23]
We need to look at many sides and perspectives when talking about the Taliban, Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Taking one example is the situation about the mistreatment of women by the Taliban. Ahmed Rashid points out in his book that "the Mullahs who had taught the Taliban stressed that women were a temptation and an unnecessary distraction from being of service to Allah. So when the Taliban entered Kandahar and confined women to their homes by barring them from working, going to school and even from shopping, the majority of these madrassa boys saw nothing unusual in such measures. They felt threatened by half of the human race which they had never known and it was much easier to lock that half away, especially if it was ordained by the mullahs who invoked primitive Islamic injunctions, which had no basis in Islamic law. The subjugation of women became the mission of the true believer and a fundamental marker that differentiated the Taliban from the former Mujaheddin." -- [Taliban, Ahmed Rashid, 2000, p33]
He goes on to explain the barbarity of these illiterate students of Islam, not allowing women and children to be educated.
On the other hand, an eye witness in Afghanistan paints a different picture all together. Speaking to a group of students in the University of Southern California in March of 2001, Sayyid Rahmatullah Hashemi, ambassador for Afghanistan at the time, says that they did have girls' schools in Afghanistan, but not many. He also added that they also had very few boys' schools. He went on to say that funding was needed to build more girls' schools, libraries, girls' universities, hospitals, and infrastructure in general. All they needed was time and guidance from the Islamic world.
He says that Afghanistan had so many problems before the allies attacked. After the Russians killed over a million people, maimed many more, and have left landmines to continue this brutality, the West were willing to help and support the Mujaheddin at the beginning for defeating the Communists. There were so many parties and tribal divisions who fought each other leaving destruction similar to that of the Russian invaders. Over a million people migrated because of the chaos and lawlessness that ensued. All the Taliban did was start a movement to disarm warlords and restore order the country. By uniting and disarming most of the tribes it seemed like a good achievement for the new movement, which had been in power for only five years before 9/11. It was welcomed by the population. A single administration did not exist in Afghanistan for 10 years and seemed impossible at the time. As did the eradication of 75% of the world's opium cultivation.
Hashemi concludes by saying that security and peaceful living, which was the main issue with Afghans at the time, was also established. Afghan women were always treated badly. In fact when the Taliban came they were treated better, believe it or not. "The Taliban stopped the abominable practice of using women like cattle and gave them rights and protection. They stopped the exchanging of women as gifts for warring tribes. Women do work in Afghanistan, the 'stay at home' edict was only because of the chaotic state of the country. How can one work when you don't have a functioning society and economy?! 90% of the country needed to be disarmed. Women still worked and helped out in Health, Education, Social Affairs and so on. And Education is incumbent on every believer, male or female. This is the Taliban's core belief as well! There are some schools in parts of the country but the main problem is resources. Curriculums and programs need to be fixed up and restarted ... The faculty of Medical Science has more girl students than boys; and there are more schools for girls being established every day..."
Another example of this bias is what the American right believes and says about Bin Laden, and what is recorded in Peter L. Bergen's interviews with actual people who knew him.
In his audio book 'The Osama Bin Laden I know', Bergen eloquently explains the origins of how Bin Laden and most of the Muslim Jihadists with him were influenced by Abdullah Azzam, Said Qutb's 'Milestones' and 'In the Shade of the Quran'. He translates excerpts from 'Al-Jihad' magazine and superbly chronicles Osama Bin Laden's rise and influence on those around him; complementing his narrative with authentic interviews from very close contacts of the Al-Qaeda leader. After listening to Bergen's side of the story, one is forced to sympathize with Bin Laden's initial intentions in trying his best to help his Muslim brothers against the Soviet invaders, and his donations to build roads and hospitals in Afghanistan. Then you begin to pity him once he is drawn in by Ayman al-Zawahri's takfirir views about jihad. Many, even at that time, disagreed with al-Zawahri's extremist views and the assassinations of Azzam and other Muslim Jihadists. Bergen shows that, by the end of the Soviet battles with the Mujaheddin, Bin Laden started to lean further and further towards Egypt's more extremist hatred and khawarij tactics. He began to aim his anger at Arab leaders and dramatically change his views about America, his helpers. The Taliban, on the other hand were also debating about Bin Laden's purpose in Afghanistan. There was opposition to Bin Laden's objectives even from the Taliban.
After listening to Bergen's accounts of the Taliban, one gets the impression that they valued their culture more than the pure Islamic teachings. They were very hospitable, kind, and very honest with their guests. An example of that was the journalist Yvonne Ridley, who later converted to Islam. They always discussed things and tried their best to do what was right. Some felt that Bin Laden disrespected them, his hosts, by causing America to invade after the 9/11 attacks, and it was not in their character to hand over any guest who took refuge with them.
The Taliban were put under the spotlight, almost immediately after their rise in 1994, and were seen as not doing a good enough job according to Western standards by the Western media. One forgets why the Taliban were popular with the Afghans in the first place. Why did the West expect so much so quickly from a tribal movement, when their governments supported Arab States and dictatorships worse than the Taliban? The pipeline story comes into mind and once there was no cooperation (or submission) everything came out and they were demonized beyond recognition. If there was cooperation with the US, the street beatings, the mistreatment, the death penalty, and the rest of the images would not have been magnified to the rest of the world. The Saudi regime is an example of that.
Mullah Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, the former Taliban foreign minister, believes that the US have been planning to get rid of the Taliban before even the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. In an interview with Chris Sands, foreign correspondent of Canadian paper The Dominion, Mutawakil said: "All of our problems were not solved under the Taliban, But the interesting thing from that time, and lots of people are remembering this now, is the tight security there was in the country. When the new regime came, people had lots of hope, but one day they found out nothing was happening and they had even lost the tight security they had under the Taliban."
"Now the foreigners think all the Taliban are terrorists," he said. "I think inside the Afghan government, there are people who are far worse criminals than the Taliban; they have committed many crimes. So the best way is to forgive everyone. It’s better to start negotiations. Of course there will be problems, as the foreigners don’t like the Taliban and call them terrorists and the Taliban don’t like the foreigners, but the best way is to start negotiations. By negotiations we can move forward step by step."
"The biggest problem now faced by the world is that it does not know the exact definition of terrorism: who is a terrorist; where are the terrorists. I think that terrorism can be in every society, it’s not unique to any tribe, to any religion, to any person -- you can have it everywhere."
"There is no hope for the people -- their hearts are broken."
What do Gordon Brown and Obama hope to achieve from this war? It doesn't look like Western style elections are going to work in a harsh country like Afghanistan, where education is almost nil. Should this way of thinking continue? or should these so-called Western style elections just be scrapped, leaving some sort of a council of tribal elders to rule the country as is the norm? The type of puppet government which have plagued the Middle East, with Karzai on the receiving end will not work in this death valley. It is a Mujahid's paradise and the West knows that it had made a big mistake of allowing it to turn out the way it did. What can America do now?
All the Afghans want is money and security. They don't want the presence of foreign soldiers or occupiers in their villages. In fact it is impossible to totally destroy the Taliban. All the allies can do is include them in whatever plans they have and get out; the sooner the better for everyone involved. If it's sharia law the West is afraid of then why does it support the Saudi regime? They could try to support the Taliban for the same reasons but not necessarily bullying them into it, as viewed by most people.
The solution to the myriad problems of Afghanistan can not be achieved by military force. It is not by sending in more troops that a way out can be found. With every day that passes it looks as though there is no way out for the US. They await a similar fate to the Soviet troops. --
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Reference:
Mullah Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, former Taliban foreign minister
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/995
Other references:
Taliban by Ahmed Rashid, c2000
http://www.amazon.com/Osama-bin-Laden-Know-History/dp/0743278917