A secret report emerged this week, in a variety of news media, that the US military expect the Taliban to retake control of Afghanistan after the NATO-led forces withdraw at the end of the perversely named Operation Enduring Freedom, which was launched in response to the murderous attacks on The World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
People in Afghanistan and across the world are left wondering, in relation to the eleven years of conflict, what all that death and destruction was about. The question 'who benefits?' sounds across the globe.
William Patey, British Ambassador in Kabul (34 degrees North, 69 degrees East), writes on his Twitter feed: 'if elements of the Taliban think that in 2015 they can take control of Afghanistan they will be in for a shock.'
His remarks sound like those of a huffy boy who is not getting his way. The words 'bluff and bluster' bleat from the Ambassador's tweeting. The attempt to use modern communication media makes him sound both weak and bullying at the same time.
Is this an illustration of a deeper failure by the NATO-led coalition? An illustration of an even deeper failure; a failure in military intervention generally?
Given that the NATO-led forces plan to leave by the end of 2014, with a continuing presence of special forces and others to remain beyond that date, do the people of Afghanistan feel abandoned?
Possibly.
But they will continue living their lives in their own country, within and beyond their cultures, traditions and histories.
Among these Afghans are the people involved in AHRDO, a human rights organisation 'dedicated to help Afghan people transform disappointment into hope, hesitation into understanding and individual efforts into collective power for the purpose of building a democratic society.'
To them, the future!
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0201/breaking4.html
http://ahrdo.org/
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