“The tide of war,” President Barack Obama said of Afghanistan earlier this month, “is receding.” The storming on Wednesday of the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, which claimed the lives of 12 civilians, was a sharp riposte. Believed to have been carried out by a suicide squad despatched by the Taliban-affiliated warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, the assault isn't the most lethal the country has seen this summer: suicide attacks, bombings, and ambushes continue reaping the lives of Afghans in ever greater numbers. In a report released this week, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said violence in Afghanistan caused 2,950 civilian casualties, including 1,090 deaths, in the last three months — up a dramatic 20 per cent from the number for the same period in 2010. It said anti-government forces were responsible for eight in ten of the killings; one-tenth were caused by Afghan and allied forces; and a tenth could not be attributed to either side. Noting that “suicide attacks have increased significantly since March,” the report observes that “abductions and assassinations of Afghan citizens also rose.” Fighting has escalated in the country's east, and jihadist groups like the Islamist Movement of Uzbekistan are reported to have an increasing operational capability in the north, an area long considered relatively peaceful.
Earlier this month, Mr. Obama announced a schedule for the withdrawal of 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer, a precursor to a final pullout. His claims notwithstanding, Afghanistan is being left to its fate: none of the strategies intended to lay stable foundations for the future has worked. Last year's surge of troops did cause heavy attrition among the Taliban, but failed to contain violence. The United States and its allies, which have now held three rounds of meetings with interlocutors for the Taliban in Europe and the United Arab Emirates, also hoped the surge would push the jihadists into agreeing to a peace deal. However, secure in the knowledge that its superpower adversary is leaving, the Taliban have good reason to escalate violence — suffering attrition in the hope of demonstrating to its supporters that it drove the U.S. out, and to its enemies, that its rise is inexorable. Islamabad, in turn, continues to shelter and fund the Jalaluddin Haqqani network as well as other Taliban elements, in return for their help in battling jihadists seeking to overthrow the Pakistani state. In the months to come, more blood will be spilt as both Afghan jihadists and their adversaries compete to secure their positions in anticipation of the final U.S. pullout. Barring a miracle, Afghanistan has little to look forward to other than a rising tide of blood.
Keywords: U.S. President Barack Obama, Taliban, U.S. troops, Jalaluddin Haqqani, troops withdrawal, Afghanistan
America being present in Afghanistan is a good thing for India. Because all the jihadis are fighting the US instead of trying to get to Kashmir.
Afganistan is the graveyard of invading civilisations. History is replete with examples of the phenomenon in Afganistan.
“The tide of war,” President Barack Obama said of Afghanistan earlier this month, “is receding.” The storming on Wednesday of the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, which claimed the lives of 12 civilians, was a sharp riposte. Believed to have been carried out by a suicide squad despatched by the Taliban-affiliated warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, the assault isn't the most lethal the country has seen this summer:
It is not surprising that the US has decided to withdraw their forces from Afganistan. Their enemy is al-Qaeda and not Taliban. Osama is dead and al-Qaeda is no longer a threat it used to be. Hence, there is no reason why the US should continue its fight against terror in Pakistan and Afganistan. Taliban is Pakistan's and Afganistan's headache and the US would not bother about it. Now it is for India to devise their own policies in the light of these developments. I think it would be inappropriate to de-link ourselves from Afganistan. We should continue our constructive role in Afganistan
It is a pity that neither the brilliant US generals like Tommy Franks and his Commander did not read military history nor did they glance through Stephen Pressfield's book on Alexander's Afghan Campaign where the author quotes the warrior, "Here the foe does not meet us in pitched battle, as other armies we have dueled in the past. . . . Even when we defeat him, he will not accept our dominion. He comes back again and again. He hates us with a passion whose depth is exceeded only by his patience and his capacity for suffering". Had the US and the West talked to the Taliban when they came into power, they could have brought them into the civilised fold. Ignored and recognised only by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, they were left to their own devices which soon developed into recognising the Taliban. The problem is that US foreign policy has caused more harm to themselves than to the countries they have taken on from Latin America,Vietnam and now the Middle East.
I think US policy has much to do with its self interests.US has already invested millions of dollars for 'WAR ON TERROR'.Now,realizing that New Delhi is keen to stabilize civil conditions in Afganistan,so that our Pakistan is not able to raise funds or recruit workforce to carry out operations and inflict damage in India.Besides this,all the talks of reconciling relations by the means of peaceful talks have been proved futile.We have every now and then witnessed a suicide bomber rising up and reminding government of what it is to come if government doesn't stop involving external forces trying to stabilize Afghanistan.There is conspicuously much more that is still to be unearthed which is likely to shed the ever increasing doubts in people's minds.
J K Dutt has encapsulated the major issues. Needs to befriend its neighbours and not neighbours' neighbour.
After the withdrawal of US troops,Taliban is going to permeate its effect on whole of Afganistan. The withdrawal of US control will lead to more bloodshed as Afghan jihadis and its adversaries would square up to secure its position. The withdrawal would boost the confidence of Taliban and will make them more powerful and the people of Afghan would be adversely affected. Within last ten years Taliban has become lethargic and it will try to consolidate itself by wasting Afghan resources.The fate of Afghan is left to itself.
The big picture is that India is a rising economic giant of the neighbourhood. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have bankrupt governments and struggling economies. The US drawdown is a greater threat to Pakistan Army's and by extension ISI's money supply than anyone else. The fierceness of the Pathan is exaggerated; they are just as lazy, money-minded and food-minded as everyone else. India should continue to remain engaged in Afghanistan, provide monetary assistance and slowly provide money to some groups & tribes in Waziristan as well.
I agree with Mudasir Ajmad Yatoo's point of view with one qualification namely, India must vacate Afghanistan forthwith as its presence in that country is only to boost America's Central Asia policy and has done more damage to our own foreign policy in the bargain, especially our relations with Pakistan. If we are concerned about Chinese presence in our own backyard as in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port and in POK, surely Pakistan would be similarly concerned about our presence in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's history clearly shows that no external power has ever been able to dominate the Afghan. Just ask Moscow! The message to all outside forces operating in Afghanistan is, leave Afghanistan alone. George Bush's biggest mistake was to have got involved in ground warfare in Afghanistan: he should have called it a day after his punitive air strikes on the Taliban group consequent to 9/11.
The troop surge made last year was as expected to increase the casualties but still the US administration took the decision makes it clear that they are not in mood to take such steps which can help in stabilizing the country. Further the withdrawal plan has made it clear that it is only as said in the editorial - a rising tide of blood left in future of Afghanistan. My belief says it is only mutual understanding between India and Pakistan which can save the war torn Afghanistan.
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