Taliban are back in force, MPS hear. Contradicting military chief's optimistim
ANDREW MAYEDA
CanWest News Service
Friday, March 30, 2007
Two Afghanistan experts painted a sobering picture of the conditions there yesterday, arguing support among Afghans for NATO forces is plummeting, the U.S.-driven policy of poppy eradication is wrongheaded, and the war might not be winnable in its present form.
U.S. scholar Barnett Rubin and Gordon Smith, Canada's former ambassador to NATO, delivered their withering comments to a Commons committee only days after Canada's top military commander, Gen. Rick Hillier, touted progress being made there.
Hillier, the chief of defence staff, this week predicted Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan will soon see a rise in attacks from the Taliban. But he insisted on using the term "surge" rather than "offensive."
He also noted many Afghans are moving back into their homes in districts west of Kandahar following a Canadian-led NATO offensive last fall.
But Rubin, who has been to Afghanistan 29 times over more than two decades, said yesterday many Afghans are growing frustrated with the pace of Western efforts to stabilize the country.
"They're not at all happy. Support for both the international presence and the government has plummeted in the past year or so," he told the foreign affairs committee.
He said Afghans aren't seeing the results of promises by the United States and NATO, which took over the mission in 2003, to increase security, establish democracy and improve the economy. "The main complaint that I hear from Afghans is ... that we haven't delivered what they think we promised."
Rubin recently published an article in Foreign Affairs magazine warning Afghanistan "is at risk of collapsing into chaos." In it, he blasts the U.S. for underestimating the influence of Pakistan, which he accuses of providing "safe haven" to the Taliban.
Smith, meanwhile, threw cold water on Hillier's suggestion that Canadian troops are facing a weakened enemy.
There is evidence Al-Qa'ida-affiliated militants, who often fight alongside the Taliban, are actually gaining strength, said Smith, now executive director of the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria.
"The Al-Qa'ida problem has not gone away," he told MPs. "It's important that we not forget the original motivation for going to Afghanistan, and that was to deal with Al-Qa'ida."
Smith recently released a critical report of his own, titled Canada in Afghanistan: Is it Working? He questions whether NATO can achieve its stated goals, even within 10 years. Canada has committed to maintain its military presence until 2009.
He argued NATO needs to hike its troop commitment, while using development aid more effectively and opening negotiations with the Taliban. Smith also said NATO must create a market so Afghan farmers can sell their opium for legal use in medical products like morphine.
Both Rubin and Smith suggested Canada needs to have a new debate about its role in Afghanistan. Liberal MP Keith Martin welcomed their remarks.
KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed at least 10 Taliban fighters on Tuesday in an attack on a compound in the southern province of Helmand after a tip-off that a junior commander was hiding there.
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In the western province of Farah, NATO and Afghan forces raided a mosque and captured 22 Taliban they said were being trained for suicide and other attacks, provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told Reuters.
During the Helmand attack, two Taliban fighters were also captured by coalition troops, who came under fire from small arms, mortars and rocket propelled grenades, according to a coalition statement.
Western and Afghan forces have opened a campaign, code named Operation Achilles, to seize the initiative before the Islamist guerrilla's anticipated spring offensive gets fully underway.
The junior commander they cornered was believed to have had direct ties to Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's commander of military operations in the south, but the statement did not say whether he had been killed or captured.
The coalition troops also destroyed a small-weapons dump at the compound in the Sangin Valley.
The troops came under fire from fighters hiding in irrigation trenches as they tried to withdraw. They killed several of their attackers, but there were no casualties on the Afghan and coalition side.
Aside from being a Taliban stronghold, Helmand is a major drug producing region of Afghanistan, the world's leading producer of heroin.
Both the Taliban and NATO troops under U.S. command regard the coming months as a crucial period in the six-year insurgency.
Almost 4,000 people were killed in 2006, the bloodiest year since U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban militia from power.
Where does the Taliban actually have power? Everytime the gain power over an area something like this will happen and they will be removed, an endless game of chess
Last edited by MTAFFI; 04-03-2007 at 02:19 PM.
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
- Bertrand Russell
"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the
enemy." - George Washington
the taliban are indeed coming back and there seems little question that they are growing stronger.
on the other hand, i know a couple of afghans (very anti-taliban type) who have recently returned to afghanistan, so apparently there have been some improvements and hope still exists for the future. maybe both things are going on at once?
unfortunately, most educated afghans have long ago left and are still in the west...but maybe slowly they are returning. (as i said, i know of 2). this is also a big problem for the future of the country.
i am not really sure of what the u.s. wanted to "win" in afghanistan beyond the pipeline, which i don't think will ever happen.
i also don't know what the u.s. policy is on poppy eradication is. at one time, i know they advocated spraying, but i think they finally agreed to less harmful ways of eradication. i see the poppies as a very major problem in afghanistan. as long as there is demand and drugs remain illegal in the west (which drives up the price), i think this will continue to be a big problem. something needs to take its place economically.
i know the taliban had pretty much eradicated it, but i don't know what their methods were - such as compensation for farmers, etc.
if any people ever deserved peace - it is the afghans. already way more than half the population has never known peace though there was a brief respite under the taliban.
Last edited by snakelegs; 04-03-2007 at 08:55 PM.
each man thinks of his own fleas as gazelles
question authority
Why are we (the north americans here) so obsessed with things over on the other side of the ocean anyway? I understand if people who live nearby are concerned. I undestand why Europeans may be alarmed, but why do north americans care?
I say pull out and let the wind blow as it may over there. Enough with all the interventions. Beef up actual homeland defence if we're concerned they may attack us. And as for Israel? Let them fend for themselves. They are more than capable.
Why are we (the north americans here) so obsessed with things over on the other side of the ocean anyway? I understand if people who live nearby are concerned. I undestand why Europeans may be alarmed, but why do north americans care?
I say pull out and let the wind blow as it may over there. Enough with all the interventions. Beef up actual homeland defence if we're concerned they may attack us. And as for Israel? Let them fend for themselves. They are more than capable.
Because over there came over here.
If we used your logic everyone in Europe would be speaking German.
Why are we (the north americans here) so obsessed with things over on the other side of the ocean anyway? I understand if people who live nearby are concerned. I undestand why Europeans may be alarmed, but why do north americans care?
I say pull out and let the wind blow as it may over there. Enough with all the interventions. Beef up actual homeland defence if we're concerned they may attack us. And as for Israel? Let them fend for themselves. They are more than capable.
actually, i agree with you. trouble is that we have already stuck our noses where they don't belong (and even thinking about doing it again). the world would be a better place if we minded our own business once in awhile.
each man thinks of his own fleas as gazelles
question authority
actually, i agree with you. trouble is that we have already stuck our noses where they don't belong (and even thinking about doing it again). the world would be a better place if we minded our own business once in awhile.
You have to keep in mind that someone poked their nose pretty far in our business on 9-11. The owner of that nose was in Afghanistan.
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
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