Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place
NATO countries wonder why their troops are in Afghanistan to aid that suffering country. Their leaders know why they're there, it's a matter of conscience, to respond to a plea for help, as well as for the very practical reason that if the west doesn't respond and leaves the country to wallow in the misery that the Taliban enforced and the war-lords gloried in post-Soviet invasion to the detriment of the people of Afghanistan the slow but steady march of global Islamofascism will advance beyond the painful toward the impossible to remedy.The new Afghan parliament and the government in total is far from a perfect construct in this search to control the destiny of this country which has been occupied by one imperialist-minded country after another over the centuries. Afghanistan has proven itself to be wildly ungovernable in the past, its fierce warrior culture ensuring that the people would never readily submit to conquest. There is still no combined good will without the dreadful flaws of corruption within the government whose parliamentary members include dreaded war lords whose commission of crimes against the populace is unquestioned.
Now President Hamid Karzai is facing a truly untenable situation. Genuinely wishing to attain a secure future for his country and his people, and willing to go out of his way to address the issue of those half-committed former Taliban fighters by inviting them to join his government's quest for peace and order, to forgive their former transgressions, he obviously is not a man eager for revenge but rather one in search of accommodation.
Yet, when faced with the recent demonstrations in Kabul by supporters of the many mujahadeen militias and their warlords all clamouring for the government to extend an amnesty, forgiving the years of pillage, torture and murder each exacted on the factions of others he faces a true conundrum. And if the warlords prove to be successful in their demands such an amnesty bill would effectively place these human rights violators out of the reach of any meaningful accounting for their bloodthirsty actions.
The victims, the families of victims, will never experience anything remotely like seeing justice visited upon the warlords who murdered, raped and pillaged in their multi-factional civil war before the rise of the Taliban. It's widely assumed among western diplomats that Mr. Karzai will agree, however reluctantly to the demands, in an attempt to bring reconciliation to all the people of Afghanistan, and because he is still widely dependent on the good will and support of all factions.
"There is no room for an amnesty for war crimes under international law or the new constitution of Afghanistan,", said Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman. "True reconciliation is only achieved when the voice of the victims is heard." Which is certainly true in a perfect world of ideal solutions, one which justice does demand, but in the convoluted world of Afghan in particular justice does not always readily prevail, not does it give itself to the kinds of solutions that tribally-recognized intercessions sometimes produce.
It certainly appears as though predicating solutions on a system of justice recognized in western countries - parliamentary democracies of long standing and traditions - do not and will not transfer well to countries long ruled under the customs of tribal justice and Islamic precepts. "The nation knows that the enemies of the bill are the enemies of Afghanistan. They don't want stability," Burhanuddin Rabban, a former Afghan president, told the rally. Spoken in those terms, is there a choice?
Another warlord, Said Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, whose fighters killed 800 civilians from the Shia Hazara minority in a single notorious incident in the Afshar district of Kabul in February 1993 now proclaims: "Whoever is against the mujahedeen is against Islam", carefully wrapping himself in the flag of his country under the protection of Allah. It is exactly this kind of reasoning that keeps tribal enmities alive since obviously Allah wills it so.
Afghan youths march through the streets of Kabul shouting "Death to the enemies of Afghanistan!" and "Death to America!". President Karzai needs the good will and the military strength of NATO, the willingness to help proferred in response to his ongoing pleas to western societies, but he also needs the support of his own people to ensure that his government remains in position to juggle demands on both sides.
The Taliban remain insurgent, collaboration with militant and Islamic-inspired youth is always assured, and the spectre of a successful Taliban campaign without the push-back of NATO is always uppermost in president Karzai's mind. Mullah Dadullah threatens ongoing suicidal attacks on NATO forces: "The suicide bombers are countless" he claims. "Hundreds of suicide bombers have registered; hundreds more behind them."
The leader of the Taliban chortles as he responds to the promise that NATO is prepared to bring additional troops into the troubled south of the country. "More troops means more will be killed, and that would make us happy; we're happy for them to come." And Mr. Karzai is also happy for an increased NATO presence; the current contingents remain hard pressed in their campaign to entirely roust the Taliban.
The ordinary Afghan urban citizen wants no part of any of this. All they want is stability and peace, the opportunity to pick up their lives and live in a well functioning state that will protect them and ensure the potential for a secure economic future. Karzai seeks to be his nation's healer, to promote the cause of peace and stability by offering forgiveness for past actions to Taliban followers and the war lords whose ferocious internecine battles crippled and weakened the country almost beyond redemption.
Not an enviable place for anyone to find themselves in; excuse the inexcusable bloodletting, or demand justice...
Labels: Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, February 25, 2007
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