End in Sight?

For

16 votes so far

A revolutionary situation, according to Lenin (a fairly experienced exponent of the practice) may be defined thus: when the old order cannot go on in the old way and the people do not wish to go on in the old way.

Only brutal repression from the Taliban prevented the sorts of uprisings we now see in Iran from occurring in Afghanistan. Western intervention does not, and will not, negate the hatred against previous Taliban rule. First, let me list some facts concerning Operation Moshtarak:  According to senior officials American forces are largely in control of the crucial town Marjah, formerly a Taliban stronghold; though some areas are faced with snipers and IEDs, they will simply not be a match for the brute force of Coalition troops and strategy. There are even suggestions that the Taliban is beginning to run out of ammunition, but is still determined to fight on in these areas, such is their importance. Unless you are a liberal masochist this is brilliant news.  What if the Taliban retreat? Well, Pakistan has essentially been coerced by the movement of Moshtarak into setting up even more posts along the Pakistan-Afghan border. At least 26 have been erected in the last week. The sensitive among you may have winced at ‘coerced’ but so what? It’s high time that Pakistan aided us in the defeat of religious fascism. Some more truths, shall we? The RAF and equivalent forces made a thorough scan of the entire area before the surge: this is not simply jingoist generals throwing loads of troops at an area; Moshtarak is in fact extremely tactically astute. NATO and Afghan officials are beginning to have regular meetings with tribal leaders, with the eventual plan of bringing in hundreds of police – as well as, potentially, the indigenous Afghan Army, one of the major successes – in order to secure government control. Tribal leaders apparently feel alienated from the central government: if anything this is an argument for federalism being implemented, and whatever concerns people may have about tribalism generally, they are certainly not reasons for our withdrawal. Rather, they necessitate our presence, and in greater numbers. Moreover, the formerly oppressed ethno-religious tribes – the Hazara, the Tajik and the Uzbek populations have grown in influence and in wealth, therefore they will resist any attempt by the Taliban to regain control over any areas. Moshtarak is an essential part of helping the self-affirmation of these tribes. Let me pre-empt a comparison my opponent may make - that of the 1979 Soviet invasion.  Firstly the Taliban, unlike the Mujahidin, had been in power and were hated by the Afghan people. Moreover the Soviet aggression was purely imperialist, ergo it was oppressor vs. oppressor, this is liberator vs. oppressor no matter what imbeciles like Michael Moore will tell you. This has significance beyond the Afghan borders. Important circles in Pakistan have long wanted to have Afghanistan as a proxy state (essential to any conflict with India). Indeed, two officials of Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency were killed in a strike on an Al-Qaeda camp (hint hint nudge nudge, they were there). Fortunately, Pakistan is no longer in a position to effectively support any Taliban struggle and Barack Obama has even stated that the option of moving into Pakistan is not off the table, a great relief considering the potential of a nuclear state controlled by the Taliban. Moshtarak not only weakens Pakistani influence over the region, it also increases the lack of resources with which the Taliban threaten Pakistan. The Operation will quite clearly work and has to. This is a duty tripled by the fact that for too long Afghanistan was left to its own devices. Now there are shaky but diplomatic relations with the pro-west Hamid Karzai. The corruption of his government is less important than the breaking down of the ideological hegemony the Afghan people suffered under for too long. There are long-term considerations too. This is a part of the fight against Islamic terrorism and of stabilising the region. The Operation is evidently working on both fronts.

Against

9 votes so far

Almost one decade ago, with minds full of anger and revenge, the US sent its military into Afghanistan, their task being to seek out and destroy the Taliban and in so doing, symbolically save the world from the threat of terrorism. Here we are, nine years later. Obama has ridiculously given the world an estimated date for US troop retrieval, July 2011, and everywhere we hear a murmur of ‘peace talks’. Are we really naïve enough to believe that through an increased intensity of direct military action and the consequent pressure put upon the Taliban leaders to communicate with NATO that Afghanistan can find contentment? That ‘peace’ (as loaded a term as that is) will soon be achievable in a country that has been torn apart by civil war and international oppression? If so, it seems that we may be forgetting just one thing, that ‘Afghanistan’, although an individual and specific case in many respects, is also a microcosm, a representation of world politics. This war cannot be resolved through intimidation, the ‘my gun is bigger than yours’ approach that the US has proposed is absurd. This war did not begin in 2001 and will not end in 2011. It’s a war of opposing ideologies that will continuously re-emerge.  With the London Conference on Afghanistan held earlier this year came the development of Operation Moshtarak, whose essential aim is to bring together the Afghan government and international coalition forces in order to gain a favourable position over the Taliban and hence force them into a compromise. Maybe, just maybe, the Taliban will become so weak that it finds NATO has tied a rope around its neck and is cutting their air supply, meaning the only chance of survival is to succumb to the offerings of the enemy. But this does not mean, to any extent, that the extremist groups will cease believing in their radical philosophies.    Have we not learnt from the British Empire that colonialism is no solution? One cannot simply inflict the American ideology in Afghanistan and make it stick without rebellion and revenge being sought. NATO will untie the rope and allow the Taliban to regain enough strength to re-attack. A never ending cycle has begun. The eye of the hurricane is all that can be achieved, a creation of calm before another event of destruction.    We must also ask, what will become of Afghanistan when NATO does retreat? For it is impossible to create a democratic state through war. Karzai’s decision, this week, to take personal control of the electoral process exemplifies the government’s susceptibility to corruption and their inability to achieve liberation for the Afghan people. It directly proves that the intentions of the 2001 invasion have failed and illuminate that now is the time to follow in the Dutch footsteps and pull out of this no-win situation whilst some innocent lives can be saved. For, as we are reminded every day in the headlines the true victims are the Afghan civilians and soldiers of the international occupation. How much blood can our politicians have on their hands before they realise that instant retreat is the only barely respectable option they have left?    No longer are we aware of the purpose of our presence in Afghanistan, other than the country having a rather convenient location for the building of relations between China, India, and Russia. Instead we attempt to justify our continued occupation with the hopeless chat of ‘peace’. The people of the US and the UK, as two major players in the military operation, are demanding an end. In attempts to buy more time and salvage a good image we are being bought with promises of negotiations. To get the Taliban to come to a ‘realisation’ (through bribery!) will allow each participant in the war to come away with the false opinion that they have achieved something and consequently that their engagement in Afghanistan was not pointless after all. Image has become most important: the US is testing its ‘superpower’ status and cannot be seen to fail at the hands of an economically and politically weak country.No peace can be achieved as long as a country is being occupied.  As such, Operation Moshtarak will just add another to the string of failed attmepts at the restoration of a long-forgotten peace in Afghanistan.