18 More Months in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been America's curse for the past one decade. What was the last decade misdeeds of America has been paid back. In 80s America trained Afghans with weapons and sophisticated technology to crush Russian forces. The same training is giving nightmares to America for a decade.

Unable to get out of the Afghanistan mess the White House establishment has been clueless. Barack Obama the promised savior of America is trying his best to put an end to the American embarrassment in the troubled Asian soil. He might have bought another 18 months to crush the Al Qaeda network but the troubles will continue to complicate his image and leadership. It is better to phase out Allied troops in 18 months the time he had sought and leave it to the managerial skills of decade long trained Afghan nationals. If America cannot deliver the results and make Afghans to take care of their country it is utter shame. Ten years is not less time for this.

Times of India writes on 3 December 2009

US president Barack Obama's outlined plan for a troop surge in Afghanistan, coupled with an exit strategy setting July 2011 as the kickoff point for the withdrawal of US forces, is likely to attract criticism from both sides. Domestic public fatigue with the war may cause some to say he committed too much, while those wanting the US to stay the course will say he didn't commit enough. But Obama has probably made the best of a bad situation. There are no easy answers in Afghanistan after seven years of mismanagement. Now, to obviate the danger of the Taliban deciding to simply wait out the US presence, a few focus areas are important.

The first is ensuring that the Afghan government is in a position to deal with the Taliban once the US withdrawal starts. And for that, the prime necessity is an effective administration in Kabul. Without good governance, Afghan president Hamid Karzai's government will lack the legitimacy it needs to succeed against the Taliban. How exactly Washington can apply pressure without making Karzai seem a US stooge is problematic, but Obama hinted at it in his speech when he spoke of reaching out to local leaders and elders. It will serve both to build effective local governance systems and exert pressure on Karzai to clean up his act if he does not wish to be left out in the cold.

Another important facet of beefing up the Afghan government is bolstering the Afghan police and military's size and capabilities. At the same time, the complementary task of degrading the Taliban's strength must be undertaken. For this too, reaching out to local leaders is important. But perhaps the crucial factor is Pakistan. If Islamabad allows militants safe havens, all the American efforts will be wasted. A US withdrawal with the Taliban's Quetta shura still intact would mean that a decade of war and loss of life was for nothing. As for hardliners in Islamabad, they would do well to remember that July 2011 is simply the starting point for the withdrawal. The actual pace of the drawdown will depend on the situation on the ground.

New Delhi must not cavil if large amounts of civilian aid flow into Pakistan, since that would shore up anti-militancy forces. It must, on the contrary, stay closely engaged with Washington and with Kabul, keep reminding Washington and other international capitals of the urgency of the task of turning Afghanistan around, and itself remain ready to help.

Afghanistan's Electoral Destiny

The election process in Afghanistan is going to face many dangers. Successfully Karzai completed one term as the head of the nation without much troubles. But this election will test his strength definitely.

The Times of India writes (20 August 2009)

Things are hotting up in Afghanistan with rocket attacks launched by the Taliban on the presidential palace and police headquarters in Kabul, the
return of one of the erstwhile Northern Alliance's most dangerous warlords -Abdul Rashid Dostum, and frenzied rallies as the presidential candidates approach the business end of their campaigns.

The novelty of the democratic process that had lent a sheen to the 2004 presidential elections and 2005 parliamentary and provincial elections may have worn off. Ground realities about the system's functioning and its interaction with existing power structures have had time to set in. Nevertheless, given Afghanistan's long history of civil war, it's encouraging that political competition is being redirected towards the ballot box rather than playing out through gunfire and bomb blasts.

As importantly, these will be the first elections to be managed entirely by Afghan authorities without UN support. Considered together, these factors illuminate how important this election is as a referendum on Afghanistan's future course. Unfortunately, there are several worrying trends on display.

The first, of course, is the ineffectuality of Hamid Karzai's government to date. Its writ does not run beyond Kabul. The Taliban's domination of the south has made it a virtual no-go zone. There are allegations of corruption dogging the administration with Karzai's younger half-brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, suspected of being involved in drug trafficking. Karzai's co-option of former warlords to retain popular support is troubling as well. The latest of these is Dostum, allowed back from exile in Turkey. He may be able to deliver the crucial Uzbek vote to Karzai but the price might be more than Afghanistan can afford.

But not all indicators are negative. Reconstruction efforts, India's and others', have paid dividends. And the democratic system that has been instituted has enough popular support that bogeymen from the country's past now find themselves compelled to work within it.

Democracy, like Rome, can't be built in a day, but it's the only long-term vaccine that can deliver Afghanistan from instability and chaos. The presence of US and International Security Assistance Force troops is a crucial factor here, and the international community must stay put if Afghanistan isn't to become a breeding ground for terror, both for its own citizens and for the world, once again. Many of Afghanistan's present problems, in fact, can be traced to wavering US commitment during the Bush administration, when it had been more focused on Iraq.

Afghanistan in Shambles

The mountainous nation of Afghanistan must have committed million horrific sins in the past. Otherwise why the people of this poor nation are compelled to face the death every minute. In the eighties Soviet Union fired bullets continuously to occupy Afghanistan for strategic reasons. In the proxy battle between America and Soviet Union innocent lives were pawned in the death board. After the demise of one superpower the other conquered Afghanistan without much gap for the development. In the small space of less than a decade terrorists have penetrated and strengthened. When the American proxies in Afghanistan went out of job after Soviet Union’s collapse they charted their own course of action.

War games are the favorite hobby of the unemployed patriarchs of Afghanistan. Those who are sitting in the mountains with many wives enjoy power without any responsibility. Piping a hookah and playing cards are commonly seen around the country. When the tribal leaders were passing time in unproductive yet harmless hobbies, a new form of Islamic terrorists came for help. Without much energy and time spent terrorists got the full support from the tribal leaders to wage a war in the name of Islam. These terrorists formed a quick coalition of frustrated Muslims across the world. From Saudi Arabia to Somalia to India, the new terror group with an aim to maim innocent lives in the name of salvaging Islam took shape.

The terrorists showed the wild card. Rape scenes, bombings and army excesses in Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq and other Muslim dominated places provoked the ordinary people. This was fully utilized by the terrorists and they got rich dividends. Along with this common strategy highly educated rich people like Osama Bin Laden and Ayaman Al Zawhari came with the thunderous message to save Islam from all forms of atrocities. They promised to create an Islamic world order.

With the growing poverty in most of the Islamic countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan and Indonesia a good hunt for the potential terrorists was completed. It was also the time of weaning support for the Talibans in Afghanistan. Due to the extreme radicalism and atrocities of Taliban common people lost faith in them. The alternative available was democracy mongering leaders who were untested in the governance of the country. But the Taliban totally eliminated those who are interested in democratic form of governance.

The regular killings between Taliban and democratic forces left Afghanistan shattered. In this shadow boxing silently Osama Bin Laden was developing a pan global network of Islamic terrorists to wage war against America and rest of the world. His idea was to capture the global attention by striking anything with heavy causalities. Osama’s Al Qaeda used technology and weaved a network of hardcore professionals from every field. Chemists, doctors, nano technologists, bio technologists, and every form of new technological superiority were infused into his army. This proved to be deadly for them to strike any country at their sweet will.

On 11 September 2001 few brainwashed terrorists of Al Qaeda hijacked planes from American airports. They rammed the planes into World Trade Centre and just missed Pentagon. Nearly 4000 people lost their lives. The lost lives were not only Americans. Migrant workers from all over the world became innocent victims to the mega global terror strike.

Immediately the American government under the kiddish presidentship of George Bush sent its troops and strikers to Afghanistan. The public proclamation of Al Qaeda immediately attracted air strikes into the mountains of Afghanistan. For the past seven years the American army is relentlessly pursuing its hot war but without much results. Afghanis who hate terrorism are killed. Children who don’t even understand terror are maimed. Yet the American army is not stopping its ‘no end war’.

There are 68,000 armed guards fighting to capture Osama and his men. American troops are 33,000 and its allied forces are 35,000. The numbers does not guarantee results. Soviet Union had 1,00,000 in the eighties yet lost its battle to Taliban forces. Americans should understand this sane logic and recall their bitter defeat in the war against Vietnam.

One likes to see the new American dispensation under Barack Obama to act intelligently to save itself and Afghanistan from any further mishaps. The American troops are trying innovative incentives to pull tribal leaders to its sides. They are providing Viagra to the elder tribals, fashion accessories to women and toys to children to extract information about terrorists. The global jehadi syndicate needs a global response. Any unilateral or vested play on terror control will be backfiring. I wish that General David Petraeus, the New Centcom Commander will mix adequate amount of reality with his military methods to put a full stop to terror in the region.