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Afghanistan | |
Don't Be So Quick to Write Off Afghanistan | |
2015-03-09 | |
![]() Don't be tellin' da Champ. The university is humming with new life, interest and hope. Afghanistan's demography is weighted toward the young, and they are impatient for change. In this supposedly traditional society, male and female students mix in a relaxed way. In a media studies class, 20-year-old Massouda spoke of her hopes for the future and of how much had already changed. "Life for women is now very different," she said. On every patch of open ground young men play soccer and cricket in enormous, sprawling games in which it is hard to tell where one sport ends and the other begins. The Afghan cricket team is a source of huge national pleasure and pride, and traditional pursuits banned by the Taliban are also back with an exuberance all their own. Or maybe Champ figures this is what happens when American ceases to interfere. Beyond the mess, dust, mud, poverty and insecurity, this is a nation that has taken its soul back from the bandits and the Taliban, and is reveling in the experience. Afghanistan is challenging the prevailing view in much of the West that intervention has failed and that a return to power by the Taliban is inevitable. Of course, there are major threats to deal with: mass unemployment, conflict and precarious geography. The Taliban could threaten the nation for some time to come, but they will only return to power if the West loses patience and cuts funds Preoccupied with their status? Make me think of another politician. Several, in fact. Even Helmand is not the failure that many suppose. But the poppies and the war have been pushed to the margins of this huge province. The main populated zone remains mostly poppy-free and secure. Better roads and improved public services mean it is becoming prosperous. For the first time, there are girls in school here, and the first big civil engineering projects are under way in the complex network of canals and waterways to drain clogged channels and restore fertile farmland. ![]() There are other questions, though, about whether this force can be sustained, beyond its high casualty rate. Last year, NATO increased its funding for Afghan forces to $5.1 billion. Hard questions remain about where this money is going and whether it is being spent well. The amount is about equal to the funding of Turkey's armed forces, but Afghanistan has none of the sophisticated weaponry, or ability, of that midsize NATO country. A country with extraordinary opportunities in agriculture, tourism and trade in crafts and carpets is marking time ‐ it is not embroiled in an all-out war, but it is not exactly at peace either. If its politicians were as good as its generals and its cricket team, things might be different.
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Posted by:Bobby |
#3 It's a little too easy to picture those relaxed male and female students applying for asylum when their not so relaxed Talibunny friends take over. |
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2015-03-09 13:28 |
#2 Strategypage pointed out that, while 100,000 people have died since 2002, that is still a lot less than before the US arrived. The sad truth is that the period 2004 - 2014 is the least violent since the 70's. Add in the fact that most of the fighting is along the Pak border, and rest of the country comes off as "peaceful." |
Posted by: frozen al 2015-03-09 11:55 |
#1 Kabul university's "new life" can be ended rather abruptly and permanently, by methods we are all too aware of. My personal opinion is that things will go from bad to worse in Afghanistan. I do hope I'm wrong. |
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2015-03-09 05:16 |