Afghanistan, the forgotten project

Pakistan must also continue to improve its border security.  Recent attacks have shown a flood of foreign fighters rushing into Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban cause.  Men from Egypt, Syria and Yemen are suspected of joining the insurgency.  In addition, training facilities are opening up on the Pakistani side of the border.  Not only are troops being sent over, but supplies of weapons are being delivered as well.  Neither the Afghani forces nor the NATO troops have the manpower to search every truck crossing the border.  That is why President Musharraf must do more in securing the border or else the insurgency will not be short of reinforcements and the battle to rebuild Afghanistan could last a whole lot longer.

Having Turkey play a prominent position in rebuilding Afghanistan can help its case as a role model for Afghanistan to follow.  Ankara, as a member of NATO has played an important part in rebuilding Afghanistan.  Both the facts that the history between Turkey and Afghanistan has been amicable and that they share a common religion allows the Turkish soldiers to be welcomed more than that of the non-Muslim countries.  The inherent trust that the Afghani people have towards Turkey can be used as a bridge towards other nations working in Afghanistan.  The U.S. should be looking to possibly place a Turkish contingent in operations essential to gaining the trust of the local populace and also making the Turkish presence more conspicuous in other rebuilding efforts.

As for the future of Afghan-American relations, President Karzai has stressed that he desires the partnership to be a long-term one as expressed in his comments in April of 2005 when meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, “[the Afghan people] want this relationship to be a sustained economic and political relationship and most importantly of all, a strategic security relationship to enable Afghanistan to defend itself, to continue to prosper.”^[lxix]  A close alliance between Washington and Kabul is critical in this volatile region of the world, but the U.S. must tread lightly when it comes to the potentially sensitive topic of permanent military bases.  They must use inconspicuous methods of using the partnership to secure American interests in the area which could result in leaving more obvious signs of a U.S. presence to the future.

Along with the public relations of connecting with the local populace, allied forces must also continue to stress that collateral civilian casualties whether through air strikes or ground combat are extremely regrettable, but almost impossible to avoid considering the conditions.  Lieutenant General David Richards, commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan reiterated this message to the Afghan Parliament, telling them that “I’ve told my troops…how careful they must be… [But] they cannot just not defend themselves.”^[lxx]  This point will only get stronger if the Taliban continues to use civilians as human shields, so it is imperative that the locals do not cooperate with the insurgents.

The United States has been providing financial compensation for the civilians accidentally killed in their military operations.  Yet, in order to maintain the trust and confidence of the Afghan people they must do more than that.  Government or military representatives must be able to meet with relatives and local officials to deliver a face-to-face apology of the incident.  They must seek to minimize this collateral damage that would only serve to undermine the good will the United States is trying to build up in the country.  President Karzai, under domestic pressure has asked the coalition “to rethink some of our strategies, especially those that can produce tragic results like the death of civilians.”^[lxxi]  It must also be pointed out that the majority of operations do achieve their intended goals without harming innocent civilians.

Air strikes can be quick and efficient dealing heavy damage with minimal military risk.  However, faulty intelligence or the untimely presence of civilians can deal a great damage, even if extremists are also killed.  Given the terrain and the insurgency’s ability to flee and hide, air strikes are a necessity.  Air strikes in 2006 are on the increase, in response to the rising Taliban activity with 340 runs so far, more than double the runs made in Iraq.^[lxxii]  The U.S. must be willing to deal with the outfall of these attacks and try to ensure as much as possible of limiting civilian casualties.  Extremist propaganda does not need American actions to support it.

In the same camp, there has been worry that some actions used by the American military would upset the Muslim population of Afghanistan.  For instance, four soldiers have been charged with punishment for the burning of two corpses on October 1, 2005.  The military had defended the incident, saying it was for sanitary reasons, but the cremation of corpses goes against Muslim law.  The U.S. must continue to respect the cultures and religions of other countries, but there must be a line for the sake of reason and logic that should limit the extent.  In certain circumstances, whether vital to the safety of the soldiers or the community or the security of the U.S., soldiers must have leeway in determining the best course of action.