Afghan Military with help of US forces is winning over Taliban and Al-Queda but can they withstand spreading popular uprisings?
Sonia Chopra
Apr. 30, 2005

The American Military and others serving in Afghanistan in collaboration with Afghan Government forces are winning over Talibans. Al-Queda is on the run in Afghanistan and Pakistan once the breeding ground of Al-Queda led terrorism.

But something else is happening in the region. Pakistan is boiling over people’s desire for multiparty democracy. Afghan common people are slowly getting disillusioned over “supervised democracy” in the nation.

A protest in the Afghan city of Herat turned violent on April 30 when police fired into a crowd of about 400 people outside the home of provincial Gov. Sayed Mohammad Khairkhawa. One person was killed and stones hit two policemen, local hospital officials said. The protesters demanded the governor's resignation in the wake of an April 29 clash between U.S.-trained Afghan soldiers and local police that broke out after a soldier shot dead a local woman suspected of carrying a bomb.

The problem in Afghanistan, especially in the Kandahar region, is that people in Southern Afghanistan (Pashtuns) have less confidence on the current Government. The Government has tried to revive the Government by bribing local landlords with blanket-hidden permit to cultivate opium. But that may not be sufficient to cool down the growing uprising coming from common people who perceive the current Government as agents of foreign power elected in an election with questionable participation and tactics used to gain power.

However, the current Afghan Government in collaboration with alien troops from United States and other Western countries have been able to cripple the Taliban infrastructure and Al-Queda’s spear.

The Afghan military on April 29 killed Mullah Besmillah, a top commander in the former Taliban regime, and captured Abdul Manan, another important Taliban militant. The attack was a part of a coalition-backed effort by the Afghan military to weed out Taliban insurgents in southeastern Afghanistan. Gen. Muslim Hamed, the military commander in Afghanistan's southeastern region, says the capture of the men will have a "major impact on security."

The Afghan Government was able to capture the country easily. They are also gaining military strength and confidence. But breeding ground for so called “terrorism” as defined by western nations are caused by people’s dissatisfaction and inability to express the same through peaceful channels like unbiased elections and judicial systems. If that is case, the future for Afghanistan is questionable. What the Western nations must start to understand is the difference between 1920s and 2005. People in the third world are much more educated. They understand the concept of colonialism, which is sometimes called “supervised democracies under the gun.” Afghan Government needs to listen and bring the common people into the mainstream politics with unbiased local and federal elections as well as appropriate judicial systems. Otherwise, again the same will happen what happened ten years back. This time it may not be Pakistan supported Taliban but something else.

Afghan Military with help of US forces is winning over Taliban and Al-Queda but can they withstand spreading popular uprisings?
Sonia Chopra
The American Military and others serving in Afghanistan in collaboration...
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