Source: Dawn Editorial

THE report may be from a relatively unknown NGO but it makes eminent sense. Saying that Nato forces in Afghanistan are entering “a widening and deepening conflict”, the Afghanistan NGO Security Office (ANSO) warns that a few years from now 2007 will be looked upon as the year when the war in Afghanistan began, because there will be “more of the same”. Going by what has been happening in Afghanistan since October 2001, one is appalled to note the lack of any results that could justify the existence of 41,000 Nato forces in that country. There are basically two reasons for the foreign forces’ failure to crush the insurgency. There is too much emphasis on force and little or no attempt has been made to find a political solution. Ignoring the support troops, the Nato forces have only 5,000 to 7,000 combat troops. The commanders on the spot have been demanding reinforcements, and the US has now decided to send 3,200 more troops to Afghanistan. However, this is only one aspect of the situation. The greater truth is that Nato troops do not have their hearts in the fighting. This is evident from the low casualties some European contingents have suffered. In many cases, the troops have orders to fight only when attacked; in some cases, Nato commanders do not send their soldiers on night patrol. Basically, it is the air strikes which are the Nato commanders’ main weapon, and this has served to increase civilian casualties without making a dent in the Taliban’s ability to fight or recruit more soldiers.The “resurgent Taliban”, as the report puts it, are most active in “their traditional heartlands” in the south and east of the country. The traditional area, let us admit, is on both sides of the Durand Line. On this side of the border, Pakistani troops more than twice the number of Nato forces in Afghanistan have been engaged in a far more serious and, in terms of casualties, costly war than those on the other side. The number of the dead and injured in Pakistan’s security forces runs into thousands, and this has led to serious criticism in Pakistan over the government’s handling of the crisis and what appears to be a greater reliance on force than on other options. Regrettably, instead of admitting failure the Nato authorities have chosen to accuse Pakistan of not doing enough. If Islamabad has not done enough, what have Nato forces accomplished as an example for Pakistan to follow?

The Taliban cross the border freely and the Nato boys have done nothing to check their movement. It is time both Islamabad and Washington realised that a political movement cannot be crushed by force and that both have to devise a common political strategy to end the insurgency. At the moment the aim of Nato forces seems to be restricted to keeping Mr Hamid Karzai in office by the use of force.

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Tags: afghanistan, karzai, NATO, Pakistan, Taliban, USA