My Two-Bit Opinion #8: Afghanistan

NOTE: This article was written in late September, 2001, and so is very outdated now. Interestingly enough, my suggestion about hooking up with the resistance (the Northern Alliance) turned out to be the path we took, as well as my suggestion about arriving with food (although the food arrived alongside massive bombings). For the most part, I think the Bush administration has acted appropriately and I hope we can do a better job of rebuilding Afghanistan this time around.

As some of you may recall, the James Bond film "The Living Daylights" featured prominently the works of the Mujahideen, the Afghani freedom fighters who faught the Soviets for 10 years. Osama bin Laden was a hero of that organization. That movie gave me some sympathy for the plight of the anti-communist freedom fighters and my limited knowledge of the country prompted me to dig further into the story of Afghanistan and its recent history.

For a firsthand look into the life of the Afghani people, check out this interview with journalist Jason Elliot. Here are some important points from that article that struck me heavily:

How does the ordinary Afghan perceive the U.S.? When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, a great many Afghans felt that America, who had sponsored them in the conflict, would help them rebuild their country, which they'd destroyed in the process of fighting communism and, as they saw it, defending the free world. That conflict went on for 10 years, and the Afghans eventually forced the Soviets to withdraw. They feel that there's an unacknowledged debt to them on the part of the free world. Afghanistan was on the sharp edge of the conflict with communism. They were actually fighting it on the ground, and a million or more died in the 10 years of fighting the Soviets.

So even those who don't like the Taliban feel betrayed by the U.S.? That's probably too strong a term, but they learned a new cynicism about the U.S. In their eyes, the U.S. rolled up its maps and left as soon as the Russians pulled out. It left a bitter feeling. I can't think of a more freedom-loving country than Afghanistan. That may sound strange to Americans right now, but these people gave everything they had in the fight with the Soviets. That left their country destroyed. In the absence of any help afterward, the country fell apart and became a haven for terrorist groups. Afghans are deeply disappointed that they didn't get much help in rebuilding.

Here's some more recent history, drawn from a recent UPI article (read the full article here):

Following the Russian withdrawal in 1989, power lay in the hands of the Mujahideen commanders who had driven out the Russians with U.S. aid. These warlords set about fighting among themselves and oppressing the people living in the areas they controlled. The way was thus open for the Taliban who were initially welcomed nearly everywhere they advanced for bringing peace and an end of the warlords' depredations.

U.S. policy on Afghanistan at first favored the Taliban until its harsh treatment of women led to a change. This, analysts say, was a major factoring in causing the Clinton administration to change policy.

Another hero of the Mujahideen, Ahmad Shah Masud, became commander of the resistance to the Taliban regime. For a time he was the strongest figure in the post-war government in Kabul, but he was unable to restore order. He was known as "the Lion of the Panjshir" for his heroic resistance to the Russian forces that occupied Afghanistan for ten years, beginning in December 1979. The Russians were never able to overcome him in his stronghold in the Panjshir Valley while he continued to inflict losses on them.

On September 11, 2001, CIA intelligence confirmed that his stronghold was breached by two men posing as journalists who had a bomb inside their camera. Suicide bombers took the life of Masud, a man the Russians couldn't get for 10 years. The alliance has laid responsibility for the assassination on the renegade Saudi millionaire, Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban's intelligence service. This, analysts said, raised the question of the possible involvement of Pakistan's Interservice Intelligence directorate, a strong and active supporter of the Taliban.

I've been studying up on Afghanistan at www.afghan-web.com, a US website. It's a war-torn country over there already. Given the Taliban's threat of a worldwide jihad against Americans, I think the only solution for the US to avoid a Holy War is to lend support to the Taliban resistance in Afghanistan and give them the support we should've given them a decade ago. We need to help them build a strong democracy. This way the issue cannot be considered a religious one, and we make a fierce, freedom-loving, communism-fighting ally out of a potential enemy.

Pakistan

(From the AP) Pakistan is one of Asia's poorest nations, with an illiteracy rate approaching 60 percent. Most of its 140 million citizens are devout but relatively moderate Muslims. However, thousands of religious schools called madrassas have filled an education vacuum left by an inattentive state, and many have been accused of spreading xenophobic attitudes.

I've read that many of the Taliban leaders were schooled in these Pakistani madrasses. Thousands more children are being schooled there today, learning the doctrines of Osama bin Laden and revering him as a hero and savior.

As I see it, the Taliban has won the minds of many Pakistanis and Afghanis by offering education and food, so the US approach should take the same route. If we choose to occupy Pakistan in any way, we should come bearing gifts. We should arrive with food and clothing and funding for state-sponsored schools offering education free of charge. Education is the only way to fight the ignorance upon which the Taliban feeds.