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What are we doing there?

Colin Vernon looks at the conflict in Afghanistan, where British forces are now officially at war with the Taliban

The location

Afghanistan, which is somewhat smaller than the state of Texas, is home to around 30 million people, and is among the poorest and least developed nations in the world. Two thirds of the population survives on less than US$2 a day. It is bordered by Iran to the west, by Pakistan to the south and east, and three other central Asian republics to the north. Also, to the east, there is a comparatively tiny border with China.
Historically the Afghans have rarely known peace. Invasions and tribal wars have been the name of the game since time began. Alexander the Great got there in 330BC and, as might be expected, the prize was not overlooked by Genghis Khan and his merry Mongols who devastate the place in 1219. More recently, during the 19^th and early 20^th.centuries, Britain was involved in no less than three Afghan wars, ostensibly to thwart the Russians, and finally concluded a peace treaty which gave the country its independence in 1919.

The Great Powers move in

In 1978 the communists took over and, in a gesture of solidarity and goodwill, Soviet forces occupied the country causing a mass exodus of some 5 million people who moved into refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. After ten years, and the loss of 15,000 soldiers to the US trained and sponsored anti-government Mujahadeen, the Soviets withdrew. Chaos ensued, and it is estimated that, in 1994, 50,000 lost their lives in a civil conflict which took place in and around Kabul the capital city, two thirds of which was razed to the ground. Two years later the Taliban seized power. Even then fighting continued until the recapture of Mazari-i-Sharif from rebel forces in August 1998. In the same month President Clinton ordered the US Navy to fire cruise missiles at four sites claiming that they were terrorist training camps.

The Nature of the beast

Taliban translates as ‘students’, in this case Islamic religious scholars, who have probably studied at madrassas (religious schools) in Pakistan. In short, this is a Sunni Islamic nationalist movement with set views on how the faithful should behave. If you adopt the ‘one world’ viewpoint of nut cases like Bush and Blair, then you will never understand these people. Voting is just not their style. By what are known as Western standards they are cruel, bigoted and backward. Yes, thieves often lose one or both hands, adulterers are stoned to death and women, looking at things from London, Washington or Paris, are certainly treated in a fashion which, to us, makes them second class citizens. However, the West is no position to condemn other cultures. Here in Britain, murderers get a year or two in the nick, thieves get a pat on the head sometimes accompanied with a frown of disapproval, and adulterers sell their sleazy stories to the News of The World. On the sex front, women are shamelessly exploited, 12 year olds are having babies, homosexuals are now virtually worshipped, and killer diseases are rampant.

Life on the farm

There is of course always a silver lining to every cloud. Not only did the Taliban government ban television and sport, it also outlawed opium production as being a decidedly non-Islamic activity and, by February 2001, a twelve member U.N Drug Control team was able to report that, “Having spent two weeks searching most of the nation’s largest opium producing areas, we found so few poppies that we do not expect any opium to come out of Afghanistan this year”. In fact production was down by 98%! As Karim Rahimi, a drug control liaison official put it, “It is amazing, really, when you see the fields that last year were filled with poppies and this year there is wheat”.

War begins

This is not the place to comment on the dark tales of conspiracy concerning the tragic events of September 11^th. 2001. As regards who may have been involved, I will keep my options on this score open. It is, however, scarcely disputed that Osama bin Laden, said to be the leading figure in Al Qaeda and at that time thought to be sheltering in Afghanistan , freely admitted that his organisation was primarily responsible for the attack on the twin towers. Although the United States had not recognised the de facto government of Afghanistan, nevertheless it immediately and boldly demanded 1) The surrender of all the leaders of Al Qaeda to the American authorities 2) The release of all imprisoned foreign nationals. 3) The closure of all terrorist training camps. 4) Full access to all such camps for US inspection. Inevitably this ultimatum was rejected and, on October 7^th., the United States, supported by the United Kingdom and other countries in the NATO alliance opened hostilities against Afghanistan, codenamed Operation Enduring Freedom, by bombing areas alleged to be training camps for Al Qaeda terrorists. On the ground, another rebel outfit, the Northern Alliance, supported by the Allies, played a large part in the ‘defeat’ of the Taliban government which gave up its last stronghold early in December the same year.

Its not only the mullahs who are mad

The Taliban of course never really gave up. That is not the Afghan way. Five years later, thousands of British soldiers and airmen are engaged in bitter hostilities with an ‘enemy’ that will never recognise total defeat. And why should it? When the going gets tough the Taliban can melt away into the hills, regroup and come back again, while a steady flow of new recruits comes across the border from Pakistan. The writ of the so-called government in Kabul scarcely runs for more than a few miles outside the capital, and some estimates suggest that the ‘insurgents’ and their friends control as much as half of the country. Are we still looking for bin Laden? If not, then why are our poorly equipped soldiers being killed in action, and why are we the taxpayers shouldering this colossal burden? Is it to be wondered that other NATO members are beginning to have second thoughts? And, as a sideline, just have a look at the estimated opium harvest for 2006. The expected 6,100 metric tons will exceed global consumption by 30%!

What the future holds

In a withering assessment of the hopeless campaign being waged in Afghanistan, a Russian General told a Sunday newspaper that, “Mounting casualties will drive out Britain and its NATO allies. The astonishing thing is that you have learnt nothing from your own experience or from ours”.

Some 16 months after the ‘defeat’ of the Taliban, George and Tony decided it was time to wage war on Iraq. Recently, a report prepared from work by 16 US spy agencies concluded that this venture, “…had fuelled radicalism and spawned a new generation of terrorists”. We can only hope that our new Foreign Secretary, Mrs. Beckett, is looking into these matters.!