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| Afghanistan |
| NATO troops more powerful and popular than Taliban |
| 2008-06-24 |
| Canadians watching military developments around Kandahar City should be in no doubt about one thing. The 300 petrified families from villages surrounding the city who took refuge there when their homes were occupied by the Taliban, hate the Taliban. The last thing they want to see right now is foreign troops going home. That NATO troops have the backing of ordinary Afghans is a good thing for Canadians to keep in mind. Much has been written of the sadistic caricature of Islamic law that was Taliban rule before 2002 and it needs no repetition here. Suffice it to say the Afghan people have had their fill: By helping them help themselves, this country is doing a good thing. Yet, a Taliban remnant has survived. How can one account for its persistence? What is the significance of their recent offensive, even though it appears to have been thoroughly countered by Canadian and allied forces? In April, Afghan President Hamid Karzai survived an attempted assassination, while last week 390 insurgents were among more than 800 prisoners sprung from Kandahar's Sarpoza Prison, a spectacular operation that severely embarrassed Karzai's government. This latest fighting near Kandahar may have been a defeat, but does the Taliban have the staying power to outlast allied forces and eventually return to power in Afghanistan? Part of the Taliban's continued enthusiasm may well be that, for many of these illiterates, religious enforcer was the best job they could ever aspire to, or were ever likely to get. In no other endeavour but upholding their mullah's peculiar interpretation of religion could a thug enjoy the deference bred of fear and the smug appropriation of righteousness for simply thrashing women who showed an ankle, or men who shaved. As for the means, they enjoy the safe haven of Pakistan where like-minded souls will shelter them and for a consideration, help them move the drugs that pay their bills to market. For those at the tip of the Taliban's organizational pyramid, it's a good living; for those further down, it's good wages if they live to collect them. Ideology thus reinforced by economics may prove surprisingly durable, despite repeated battlefield defeats. Also, that Afghanistan has a general election next year colours everything -- there would be no better time for the Taliban to attempt to portray Karzai as impotent outside Kabul, and even there survives only with foreign support. Observers on the spot predict a very tough summer and fall this year, intensifying through next year, but, nobody ever said it would be over by Christmas. Notwithstanding the Taliban's continued viability, the recent action around Kandahar has some positives. First, much of the fighting was carried out by the Afghan National Army, albeit with Canadian support. That an indigenous military force has defeated Taliban insurgents with slight losses to itself -- two dead -- is good news for NATO allies hoping to redefine their role from combat to training and support. Second, there's no question where local loyalties lie. Kandahar is Taliban heartland, yet clearly the Taliban no longer possess the hearts and minds of those living there -- if they ever did. Those familiar with Afghan politics describe a tangle of competing interests and a hierarchy of loyalties westerners can barely comprehend. For all the talk about militant Islam, religion is less of a driving force than clan or family ties -- and Karzai's bellicose gestures towards Pakistan and his serpentine manoeuvres frustrate his western friends as much as his Afghan foes. (In an effort to bolster his bona fides with Afghan fundamentalists, his government is busily attempting to suppress a popular Indian soap opera on the one truly independent TV station. So much for implanting liberal values.) Even so, ordinary Afghans now have better access to schools and health services and more confidence in their personal security than they have enjoyed for decades. Something good is gestating. While it may not look like much from the comfort of a Canadian suburb, it is hope to a courageous people. There really can be no turning back now. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 If only the farmers could learn to produce ethanol from those poppies ... |
| Posted by: doc 2008-06-24 18:04 |
| #4 Part of the Taliban's continued enthusiasm may well be that, for many of these illiterates, religious enforcer was the best job they could ever aspire to, or were ever likely to get. In no other endeavour but upholding their mullah's peculiar interpretation of religion could a thug enjoy the deference bred of fear and the smug appropriation of righteousness for simply thrashing women who showed an ankle, or men who shaved. I think he's on to something here. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-06-24 12:03 |
| #3 a Taliban remnant has survived. How can one account for its persistence? Joe, when was the last Japanese WWII hold out finally brought back from Guam? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-06-24 09:19 |
| #2 Why not burn the poppy fields and pay off the farmers???? Who is making the money here apart from the taliban? |
| Posted by: Paul 2008-06-24 07:41 |
| #1 a Taliban remnant has survived. How can one account for its persistence? ISI and Pakis keeping them going just across the border so they (the ISI and Pakis) can stay on the opium gravy train. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-06-24 01:41 |