Temporary Accomplishments Relinquished to Reality
Gain some advantage. Only to see it drain away at the earliest opportunity. Is the answer to that dilemma then to deny the opportunity? Remain on guard. Be there, where it is required that one should be stationed to deny opportunity to insurgents resurfacing, filling in the gaps, however temporarily available.Hard-won battles to cleanse the Pajwaii district of Taliban resulted in celebrations. So Canadian troops, assuming their job was done there, left the area in control of Afghan government forces. Is this not as it should be? After all, foreign troops are not meant to remain in place ad infinitum. There does come a time when the host country must assume responsibility for its own well being.
But it hasn't taken very long from foreign troop withdrawal to the re-infiltration of Taliban forces, despite the presence of Afghan district police. Under-trained, under-funded, under-dedicated, susceptible to corruption, it's easier to continue to rely on the presence of foreign troops to roust out the Taliban, time and again.
With a change in the rotation of Canadian troops and withdrawals from key sites, the Taliban saw an opportunity and attacked checkpoints and bases in Panjwaii. The police at the bases felt overwhelmed and called for help. An Afghan army unit was dispatched to assist, and it issued its own calls to Canadian troops to rescue the situation.
With its meagre one-thousand-strong troops, the Canadian presence is inadequate to the job at hand, securing all of Kandahar province. What ensues is a carefully calibrated montage of encounters, routings, pull-backs, and re-entries. There are insufficient numbers of coalition (NATO) forces to effectively perform the job at hand.
The foreign troops hope to be able to rely on Afghan police to hold strategic, cleansed areas but success eludes them; the Afghans are undermanned, under-armed and undetermined. The NATO politicians wax eloquent about progress being made on all fronts, from extirpating the Taliban, to building civic infrastructure and delivering aid to needy Afghans.
Reality appears to be far from the encouraging picture portrayed by politicians, representing both the government of Afghanistan and those of NATO partners. A UN report indicates that the incidence of violence has increased over the past year; "security incidents" ranging from bombing and firefights to Taliban intimidation of the local populace.
Meanwhile, Hamid Karzai's governing body is comprised of some political figures whose past tribal and criminal associations compromise the entire parliament. And Afghanistan's runaway and rampant corruption creeps through every aspect of life in the country. Business of any kind cannot proceed without bribes; without them nothing is accomplished.
Western countries and international aid agencies continue to pour aid money into the country. Lamentably, Afghanistan's own wealthy don't appear to be very much interested in investing some of their millions in their country. Instead they operate businesses in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
If these business and social elites aren't prepared to help their own country, it's fair to ask why everyone else should remain so involved, concerned and committed. But then, it's the same sad old story, one repeated interminably throughout human history.
Labels: Political Realities, Terrorism, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Monday, September 03, 2007
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