Kabul: A City Where War Is Never Far Away

A woman begging on the side of the road in Kabul, her sick son
sleeping beside her. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)

From the International Herald Tribune:

My first trip to Kabul was in 2001. I arrived as Northern Alliance soldiers were fighting Taliban gunmen in and around the Afghan capital. Those who resisted were killed, and those captured were more likely to be executed than taken prisoner.

There was a power vacuum in Kabul, a brief moment when one set of rulers had fled and the next had not yet taken over. This can be a liberating time for a photographer. There were no clear rules, no central authority that might restrict you from taking pictures. I've returned to Afghanistan nearly every year since then.

Today, at first glance, the dusty stalls and kebab joints of Kabul, with their bearded men and covered women, look much the same - in at least one important way - as they did when the Taliban were forced to flee.

Read more ....

More News on Afghanistan:
Afghanistan dangerously off the radar -- Stuff, New Zealand
Afghan Escalation -- Washington Post
A Shortage Of Troops in Afghanistan -- Washington Post
Foreign Troop Boost Ineffective Without Proper Strategy - Afghan Paper -- Red Orbit
War in Iraq Strains U.S. Military And Hurts U.S. Efforts In Afghanistan -- Democracy Arsenal
Opinion: How America made a mess of Afghanistan -- Times Of India

My Comment:
Quoting from the Democracy Arsenal .... Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen’s past comment that "In Afghanistan, we do what we can…In Iraq, we do what we must," is a clear sign that the Bush administration has failed to prioritize the war in Afghanistan and has pushed our military to its limits.Urgent action is required that returns Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan, to the center of our counter terrorism policy and provides the troops and resources that the mission requires. (End of Quote)

Invading and occupying Afghanistan was never assumed to be an easy endeavor. Decades of war, complete destruction of its infrastructure and social networks, coupled with a culture that borders with centuries of Islamic fundamentalism and even more of narcotics and corruption .... Afghanistan was never going to be an easy affair ..... and most analysts agreed with this observation in 2001.

Critics of U.S. policy are using the standard line that Afghanistan is a mess because of the U.S., its lack of direction coupled with a lack of focus on Afghanistan's problems. I tend to differ. Afghanistan has always been a mess.

If Afghanistan was to be the only focus of American attention, in which a trillion dollars of aid was to be dumped into the country for the next ten years .... I can guarantee one thing ..... after 10 years there will still be nothing to show for it. Like Sub-Africa which has received $500 billion dollars of aid in the past three decades and the help of numerous NGOs, ..... poverty, hunger, corruption and war still exist .... and they still have nothing to show for it.

Afghanistan has to be long term stay that can only be measured in decades. It (1) first has to start with securing the military situation, and changing the culture of war and violence that is so inherent in the Afghan culture. This will be done by simply killing off the bad guys, and attacking their sanctuaries in Pakistan. the Taliban are determined to make the cost of war unbearable for the West to continue staying in Afghanistan .... the West must adopt this policy and use it against the Taliban, making the war unbearable for them and their mercenaries.

(2) Destroy this drug dependent society and culture. Pay the farmers to grow corn and wheat. Throw the ones in jail who are determined to continue growing opium. Drug money fuels the Taliban war machine .... this must be destroyed at all costs, and protests be damned. If the farmers want to join the Taliban, let them but make them aware of the consequences of their actions.

(3) So many men and fathers are now gone or dead, leaving behind broken families, orphaned children, widows and dependent grandparents. This will take decades to correct, but starting to address this slowly in the areas of Afghanistan that is at peace is a start.

(4) Education. The parents are lost .... the focus has to be on the children. They must be exposed to the world through books and teachers .... we must help to make them start to dream about better things.

In summary ..... we must give the people of Afghanistan hope. I know that we can, but I do not know if our political class are ready for that commitment.