FPIF 60-Second Expert |
Talking Points for the Time-Crunched
The Taliban is Back
Stephen Zunes | October 13, 2006
Editor: John Feffer, IRC
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On the fifth anniversary of the launch of the U.S.-led war against Afghanistan, the Taliban is on the offensive, much of the countryside is in the hands of warlords and opium magnates, U.S. casualties are mounting, and many, if not most, Afghans are actually worse off now than they were before the U.S. invasion. U.S. policy is responsible for many of the problems afflicting Afghanistan today. The United States has tolerated the rise of warlords and has worked with drug lords as long as they promise to remain political allies. Civilian casualties in the war against the Taliban and endemic corruption in the U.S.-backed government have contributed to popular resentment. The war in Iraq has diverted U.S. resources that could have been used to stabilize Afghanistan and promote sustainable development. Despite these manifold failures of Bush administration policy, however, the United States can take several steps to contribute to the prospects of peace and security in Afghanistan. - develop a counter-insurgency strategy that lessens reliance on air power, which has thus far resulted in large-scale civilian casualties
- broaden the multinational force to include troops from Muslim nations to counter the xenophobia resulting from the predominance of North American and European forces
- insist that Pakistan eliminate the sanctuaries used by Taliban and al-Qaida forces to infiltrate into Afghanistan
- dramatically increase international economic assistance to Afghanistan under United Nations supervision designed to create sustainable development, particularly in rural areas
- pressure the Karzai regime to crack down on corruption and purge his government of war criminals, opium magnates, and others who have abused the human rights of the Afghan people
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Published by Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF), a project of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS, online at www.ips-dc.org). Copyright © 2008, Institute for Policy Studies.
Recommended citation:
Stephen Zunes, "The Taliban is Back," 60-Second Expert (Silver City, NM and Washington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus, October 13, 2006).
Web location:
http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/3599
Production Information:
Author(s): Stephen Zunes
Editor(s): John Feffer, IRC
Production: Chellee Chase-Saiz, IRC |
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| Name: |
Fazal Habib Curmally |
Date: Oct 17, 2006 |
| I agree with Mr Zunes. The insurgency in Afghanistan has a hidden element of ethnicity and should that be tackled first, there would be a dramatic lessening in the power of the Taliban and the al-Qaida. This step would automatically lessen infiltration if any from Pakistan. The main drawback is the willingness or the unwillingness of the present afghan government to take such a step. It seems to be working in the helamnd province of afghanistan where the NATO took such an initiative and it is working in Waziristan too. |
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| Name: |
Ken Fraser |
Date: Nov 12, 2006 |
| The US has handed responsibility for this area to NATO. The motives for this move are suspect: it gives the US a convenient "who, me?" response to crtiticism of actions there. However, leaving aside the motive, it is a good move, as it involves more of the international community, which should have been involved initially in 2001. Also, since there are now a number of countries involved, the opportunities for creative and decisive action are increased, since the lessening of "prestige" motives leads to more considered thinking. Finally, positive, sensitive, and constructive policies might be allowed to replace more gung-ho US tactics. |
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