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Wed. Dec 18, 2002

Rumbles in Afghanistan

Rumbles in Afghanistan – In the east: “Al Qaeda has recently set up several new training camps in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, the head of a United Nations group monitoring the flow of money to the network said on Tuesday.”

In the west: “Many Afghan women are still subject to the same abuse as under the ousted Taliban and in some regions, such as the west of the country, face increasing harassment, a human rights group said on Tuesday [...] [Warlord Ismail] Khan, the governor of Herat, who has received considerable U.S. financial and military assistance, was named as the most flagrant abuser, inventing a series of draconian measures. Among them is a religious police and a ’youth police’ to haul women and girls to hospitals for gynecological examinations for the purpose of ’chastity checks.’ ”

I can’t help but wonder about our commitment to post-Taliban Afghanistan. I know we’re training their armed forces, and generally trying to help them govern themselves, but it’s going to take a lot of support that isn’t readily apparent, if this goal is to be met: “Afghan President Hamid Karzai has demanded his government complete the mammoth task of disarming his war-ravaged country in the next six months, a senior defense ministry official said Tuesday. The presidential order comes as part of efforts to reduce the influence of renegade warlords and unruly commanders who threaten to undermine stability in Afghanistan. Disarmament has proceeded only slowly since the fall of the Taliban last year, with some local commanders unwilling to surrender their arms to rival commanders who are members of Karzai’s government.”

When “we won” our proxy way against the Soviets in Afghanistan, we abandoned the area, leaving a vacuum that was filled with ugliness. And here we are with people talking about post-Saddam Iraq, and the “nation building” that will be required. It would seem that we have a prime opportunity to show the world how we “clean up our mess” (and there’s a clear argument that both Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and Saddam-ruled Iraq are a result of our failings).

It’s obvious we need to do more. Much more.