Page 2 of 2 SPEAKING
FREELY Little to cheer on Afghan
anniversary By James Emery
warlords enough money to oversee an
opium ban in their respective areas of influence.
Seed, fertilizer, irrigation programs and other
provisions should be made available to the farmers
at little or no charge.
Price supports
should be installed that will provide farmers with
a guaranteed lucrative income on their wheat or
other alternative
crops
regardless of the current market prices in
Afghanistan. Market access, including adequate
roads and transportation, must also be
facilitated. Give the Afghan farmers a year to
rotate into the program and offer to buy and
destroy their current opium crops. However, make
it clear that once the grace period is over,
anyone caught growing opium will have his crop
eradicated without compensation.
The
rampant corruption in the Karzai government must
be firmly dealt with by removing crooked officials
and oppressive warlords. Afghanistan has also been
experiencing a rising crime rate that includes
kidnappings, robberies and murder, causing many
Afghan businessmen and educated elite to flee. The
breakdown of law and order is distressing to the
civilian population, some of whom will reluctantly
support the Taliban if it means an end to the
lawlessness.
The worst criminals,
including crooked cops and government officials,
should be given well-publicized trials and severe
punishments. This would go a long way toward
re-establishing civilian confidence in the
government, while reinforcing Karzai as the
central authority figure. Efforts should be made
to round up and punish other criminals, giving
them lengthy sentences in Policharki Prison in
Kabul.
The US must pressure President
General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan to begin
closing the most radical madrassas
(seminaries) and the US should insist that Saudi
Arabia quit funding them. Enrollment of foreign
students from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle
East in these madrassas has been increasing
over the past 10 years. Indoctrinated in terrorist
rhetoric, many of these students return to their
respective countries to link up with indigenous
cells. This is one of the reasons terrorist
activity has been increasing in Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries.
Additionally, some Afghan, Pakistani and
foreign students are making their way to
Balochistan, the Waziristan tribal area and North
West Frontier Province in Pakistan to hook up with
Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents who have been
using these areas as sanctuaries for cross-border
attacks against Western forces in Afghanistan.
The recent infighting between insurgent
groups in Waziristan should be exploited and
expanded to include other groups operating in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. The various leaders of
these groups, including numerous Afghan factions,
Uzbeks, Chechens, Arabs, Pakistanis and others, do
not trust one another. Conflicts could be
encouraged through a series of operations
specifically targeting individual leaders and
groups, exploiting the natural mistrust, jealousy
and ethnic, tribal and political rivalries that
exist between the various factions.
Musharraf can use the fighting in
Waziristan to negate his misguided non-aggression
agreement with insurgents. He must be encouraged
to attack all of the Taliban strongholds and
sanctuaries in Pakistan in coordination with US
forces, which could be set up on the Afghan side
to catch them as they attempt to cross the border.
The three Pakistani intelligence agencies,
all currently headed by military officers, need to
be brought in line, especially the Inter-Services
Intelligence. They have historically supported the
Taliban, warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other
radical elements detrimental to Afghanistan and
the United States.
The Taliban and
al-Qaeda believe the Americans have lost their
resolve, bogged down in Iraq and refusing to
allocate the necessary resources for Afghanistan.
They are aware that Karzai has been compromised
and that Musharraf is weak, facing growing dissent
and a possibility that even the military will
abandon him.
Insurgents are also
monitoring the changing political currents in the
West. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and
President Bush are on their way out. None of the
US presidential candidates wants to deal with Iraq
and Afghanistan, meaning there could be a sudden
shift of policy leading to an abrupt downsizing
and withdrawal of US forces.
If the US
wants to save Afghanistan, the Taliban must be
decisively defeated this year so that massive
reconstruction programs can begin. Failure to
stabilize Afghanistan and persuasively address
critical issues in Pakistan could result in a
change of leadership in these two states that will
be devastating to the region and have profound,
long-term consequences to the "war on terror".
James Emery is an anthropologist
and journalist who has spent considerable time in
Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Islamic countries
in Asia and the Middle East.
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say. Please click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
