Monday, July 28, 2008

Going in the wrong lane

July 28, 2008


Going in the wrong lane

AFGHANISTAN is hitting out left and right with accusations that its neighbours are responsible for the raging insurgency in the country. Parallel to charges that elements in Pakistan's military and intelligence networks were plotting attacks in Afghanistan, the new contention is that
Iran has become the main transit route for militants trying to join insurgents in the chaotic country. The charge was made by an Afghan government daily, Anis.
Tehran now finds itself charged on two counts — fuelling the anti-US insurgency in Iraq and helping the Taliban militants in Afghanistan to fight the Afghan government forces and the US-led foreign forces present there. The international forces in Afghanistan have said that Iranian weapons destined for the Taliban have been seized in the country but they have qualified that assertion saying they were unsure whether Tehran knew about the shipments. Iran, which by no means is an angel, has rejected all charges.
Granted that Iran, which is locked in a bitter nuclear dispute with the US, might have a vested interest in keeping the US-led forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan unbalanced, but the charge against it need to be supported with concrete evidence. So do the contention made by Anis other countries were lax in checking support for the Taliban-led insurgency.
According to Anis, three foreign militants, two from the Middle East and one from Turkey, were captured during a recent operation in Afghanistan and investigations of the three showed they had come via Iran.
It proves that Iran had become a "tunnel for terrorists" to Waziristan, the tribal region of Pakistan, where the militants have sanctuaries and from where they enter Afghanistan to attack foreign and Afghan forces, according to the paper.
With no bearing on the authenticity of the charges, it would also seem that there is more to the situation than meets the eye, particularly that Iran has threatened to hit US interests in the region, if the US attacked Iran in the nuclear dispute.
The fact is that Afghanistan finds itself caught in the middle of a long-term conflict of foreign and regional interests. Making things worse is the intensified Taliban insurgency in the country. Instead of blaming others for its misfortunes, Kabul would be better off determining whether it has done the right things to address the woes of its people, who are otherwise denied the basics and are encouraged to embrace militancy. Then it would come up with the finding that the people of Afghanistan at large are no better off today in terms of their daily needs than they were while the Taliban or other regimes were in power. Kabul should be demanding that the international donors live up to their pledges while also ensuring that whatever foreign aid is reaching the country is channelled to the people who are in real need. That could perhaps prove to be the starting point of a long road to recovery for the Afghan people, who at this point in time feel they have nothing to lose if they joined the insurgents.