Taliban challenge in Afghanistan

Published Sunday, June 24, 2007, The Kathmandu Post

-By Pritam S Rana

Wire reports from Afghanistan tell a grim story. Suicide attacks and kidnappings along with other acts of violence are common almost everyday. the Taliban opposition and its supporter, Al Qaida, are active in destabilizing the nascent peace and sense of security. By firmly capitalizing on the increasingly heavy civilian casualties in retaliatory military actions by US and NATO forces in the country, the Taliban seems to be organizing a massive resistance aimed to evict the foreign forces once and for all from the country.

Part of the Taliban strategy is to divide Western resolve to democratize and bring stability to the country.. Some time back, the Taliban took French and Italian citizens hostages and then released them against the expectation that they will be executed. The Taliban knows that France is a vocal critic of US foreign policy and thus by offering olive branch to the French, the hard-line Islamic group aimed to create a fissure in the Western (Atlantic) alliance especially in the already divided NATO. many of the NATO member states who have military detachments in Afghanistan have strict caveats (word borrowed from www.wikipedia.org) restricting offensive military operations. The Taliban wants to take advantage of these limitations as illustrated by the killing of Finnish soldier some time back. Finland is a non-NATO neutral European state.

The almost daily instances of suicide bombings, firefights, with US and NATO forces and abductions are part of Taliban's strategy to keep up the pressure on the foreign forces. The increasing civilian casualties, which has already enraged Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, serve the purposes of the Taliban. The Taliban seeks to mobilize the the civilian population against the foreign forces and draw its parallels with the Soviet Union's military, the hated occupier against whom the Muhjahedeen resistance fought tenaciously in the 1980s. besides relying on hardcore Taliban fighters to conduct low-intensity insurgency against Afghan security forces and its foreign allies, it can be deduced that the Taliban has recruited the relatives of those killed in US and NATO retaliatory raids to conduct the devastating suicide bombings in urban centers. Security is supposed to be tight in such areas, but it is a tough task for security men to spot a potential suicide bomber from ordinary city dwellers.

The NATO/ISAF forces have structured Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) at various provinces of the country. these are a combination of civilian and military personnel who are engaged in performing small recosntsrution projects. they also provide security to other civilian agencies like the USAID who are involved in recosntruction work or aid. Taliban wants to target these outposts and want to deny the civilian populace the benefits of these efforts. It want(s) the 'foreign occupiers' to go so it can once agian run Afghanistan in strict puritanical Islamic code. It may also want to harbor Al Qaida again so it can once again plan and execute terrorist operations against the 'hated United States' and its allies.

The Taliban focused its thrusts in southern part of Afganistan since last few years where British forces are posted. The death of Mullah Dadullah, a senior Taliban commander in May was a hard earned victory for the Afghan and allied forces. dadullah was said to be responsible for the massacres of Shia Muslims in 2001 and was a grotesque and bloodthirsty individual. With such leaders, Taliban hopes to impose its authority and raise a rallying cry against the foreigners in the country and its 'puppet' government led by Hamid Karzai.

There is no doubt that the prsence of foreign forces who are authorized by UN Security Council is necessary to help rebuild Afganistan. teh country needs foreign assistance more than ever. However, the awarding of rebuilding contracts exclusively to Americans and Europeans would be seen with much scrutiny by the Taliban sympathizers. Despite the talk of possible dialogue with Taliban by Afgan leader Karzai, they haven't yielded anything. until the Tliban decides to lay down arms and give up its anteliluvian and xenophobic ideology, there can be no peace in Afghanistan. Afganistan has much to do to control illegal poppy cultivation and opium smuggling. Continued armed conflict would curtail such efforts, which is sure to destabilize the country for a long time.

Instead of moving toward modernity and globalization, the ideas espoused by Taliban and its transnational terrorist network, Al Qaida, would transform Afganistan into an Islamic caliphate (ref: Insurgency and Terrorism by Bard O'Neill), far removed from reality. being one of the poorest countries in the world despite being located on an area of immense geo-strategic potential (ref:Halsford Mackinder's geopolitical theory utilized by Hitler in June 22, 1941), afghanistan deserves a better chance.. Teh US and Western powers have strategic interest in Afghanistan. Teh country can allow oil pipelines through Central Asia to Pakistan and thus gain much. Suffering from endemic fighting since late 1970s, the time has finally come for Afghan people to see lasting and permanent peace.