generalspeaking

The Old/New Afghanistan

"Women, you know we will defend your rights and your dignity."
Abdul Rasul Sayyif, Afghan war lord, al-Qaeda mentor, presidential candidate

AFGHANISTAN : Afghan presidential candidate and hardline Islamist Abdul Rasul Sayyaf (c) addresses a election campaign rally in Kandahar Monday. Taliban gunmen abducted a provincial election candidate in northern Afghanistan, officials said, five days ahead of national polls Islamist militants have vowed to target.— AFP

This generous assurance given to black burka-clad women quietly sitting in the audience of an election rally. This is a man they can trust, a man they can place their best interests in. And should they decide to vote for him, he will protect women's rights, their dignity. On the stump, he avers that he is in favour of female doctors and teachers. All in Sharia style, of course, separated from men as is proper, for never the twain should meet until marriage when bondage is women's fate.

The women of Afghanistan will of necessity be required to adjust their expectations yet again. The intervention of the West was but an eyeblink of time that creased the culture but did not dent it. Life will go on as it always has, for Islam demands that it must, and in the Islamic way. Abdul Rasul Sayyaf has been around; he fought with jihadists, a honour shared by all mujahadin during the Russian invasion.

When he speaks, people listen, though when he appears in public a phalanx of armed guards ensures his security in a country where assassination takes place swiftly, finally, endlessly. The crowd knows him and they know his Islamist credentials, a recognition made manifest by cries of "Death to America. Death to England." Hands thrust into the air the cries of "Death, death, death" are shouted at the rally; no more need to be said, the message is complete in and of itself. A symptom of Islamic faith.

Mr. Sayyaf occupied a place of honour under the Taliban rule of Afghanistan. Inviting Osama bin Laden to move from Yemen to Afghanistan, he was a soulmate in Islam of the planners of 9/11. A dozen years have gone by since then, international troops entered the country to capture al-Qaeda and disarm the Taliban; billions of international aid was funnelled into the local economy, building government infrastructure, courts, medical centres, schools, business opportunities.

And now, the international community, their militaries and their humanitarian NGOs are scaling back, the former to completely return home, the latter to remain where their business has stationed them, and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf is prepared to support a leading candidate with his influential connections. General Abdul Rashid Dostum who is accused of atrocities against prisoners, along with other war crimes, also presents as a support to the triumphant presidential candidate.

Once a Taliban stalwart, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf now presents himself as anti-Taliban, prepared to work with the West, to permit a small contingent of American forces to remain in Afghanistan rather than see complete withdrawal. This is the man whom the 9/11 Commission Report cited as a mentor to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who masterminded the Twin Towers attack.

In Kabul, where Western aid and encouragement to modernize and move beyond the strictures of ancient cultural and religious roadblocks to social-political advancement has taken hold, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf is recognized for the brutality of his past activities, commanding his forces to slaughter thousands of Hazaras, Shiite minorities considered infidels to Islam by Sunni conservatives, in the 1990s.

Human Rights Watch considers him a war criminal. That shouldn't stop him, however, from moving on to attaining great heights of power and influence in the new Afghan government.

Labels: Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Conflict, Democracy, Economy, Education, Health, NATO, Taliban

posted by Pieface @ Monday, March 31, 2014