Latest News
| Afghan civilian deaths, challenge for NATO power |
|
|
|
| Written by Administrator | |
| Sunday, 12 November 2006 | |
|
Five years after the U.S. invaders entered Afghanistan to liberate it and end the rule of the Taliban regime in Kabul, peace remains a distant dream for Afghans with occupation forces attacks killing more civilians than militants, poverty on the rise, and widespread corruption.
Numerous editorials and anti-war demonstrators stepped up recently criticism over the devastating impact of the NATO failure to handle the country and protect civilian lives. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had only 4,500 members in 2002, with the majority of the troops concentrated in Kabul. The alliance now commands 31,000 troops, backed by 10,000 troops from the U.S.-led occupation forces. ISAF's chief, British General David Richards attributed the failure of the NATO mission in Afghanistan to the lack of forces sufficient to counter violence that has effectively doubled since 2004. Less than two weeks ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's summit in Riga, scheduled to be held on November 28, the U.S. is struggling to make the mission it leads along with the NATO forces in Afghanistan a model for the Western alliance to take on more security challenges around the world. Washington is trying to throw more global burdens on the NATO shoulders, but the alliance's failure in Afghanistan and the number of forces in has there stand as a challenge to any attempt to expand its power. NATO's top commander appealed earlier for 2,500 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan, but most of the alliances members didnt show much eagerness in answering that call. "Only a handful of NATO members are prepared to go to the south and east and to go robustly -- mainly the U.S., UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia and Denmark," the International Crisis Group said in a report issued this month. "Hard questions need to be asked of those such as Germany, Spain, France, Turkey and Italy who are not," it added. "Obviously, there is some concern in capitals that there is, in fact, a shooting war going on," Reuters quoted a U.S. official who demanded anonymity, as saying There is a feeling of "whoa -- you guys are in an insurgency -- is that what we signed up for?" the official said. Civilians death in Afghanistan is on the rise as a result of both the occupation-led forces and rebel attacks. 3,100 people, about a third of them civilians, died this year in the conflict-torn country. At least 70 Afghan civilians were killed last month by NATO-led attack in Kandahar Province's Panjwayi district. But NATO Commanders persistently refuse to admit their failure to protect the Afghan population. Trying to defend last months Panjwayi operation, top military commander, British Gen. David Richards claimed that local elders and other citizens "indicated that the great majority of those killed were Taliban". But the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that up to 70 civilians were caught in the crossfire. "Aerial bombardment and ground offensives in populated rural areas, together with recent suicide attacks and roadside bombs in urban areas, have significantly increased the number of innocent civilians killed, injured or displaced," it said. The U.S. seems increasingly worried over the growing influence and power of the Taliban regime it ousted more than five years ago. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried called on the NATO alliance to do more to help the Afghan people as well as protecting its members' interests. "Suppose the Taliban had remained in Afghanistan and not attacked the United States on Sept. 11 but strengthened their base, spread into Pakistan, spread into Central Asia ... and then attacked. How much greater would the problem have been? How much more horrible the result?" he told Reuters. "The downside risk is real," he said. "It's a challenge for NATO ... I concentrate on what NATO has achieved but my job is to push for more," Fried said. But Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, responded to Mr Fried, saying; "The Bush administration is not very well positioned to make this plea because .... it has walked into a huge debacle in Iraq that is an object lesson in what could go wrong," he said. "The Europeans watched what happened to the Soviet forces in Afghanistan and, given how remote and backward Afghanistan is, they must be wondering whether there is any chance over the long run of changing the culture of the place," he added. Also Rand Corporation analyst Seth Jones rejected the suggestion that sending more NATO troops to Afghanistan will help end what he referred to as insurgency. "I just have doubts that over the long run either the Dutch or the Canadians are going to be willing to stick this out over let's say a decade," he said. Theres already growing concern among NATO member states over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. Reuters quoted another U.S. official, who also asked not to be named as saying; "We already hear it on the margins. Some senior leaders in some countries are already saying, 'no you can't do it, you can't win this, this is history repeating itself,'" he said. In response to the most recent deadly attack by NATO forces which claimed the lives of over 70 civilians, the New York-based Human Rights Watch, issued a statement denouncing the NATO attack and saying that its tactics increasingly endanger civilians and are turning the population against the Western alliance. "While NATO forces try to minimize harm to civilians, they obviously are not doing enough," said Sam Zarifi, the group's Asia research director. "NATO's tactics are increasingly endangering the civilians they are supposed to be protecting and turning the local population against them." The fact of the matter is that the U.S. is failing in Afghanistan, the NATO is failing in Afghanistan and its the countrys civilians whore paying the price of Americas wrong decision to invade the country in the first place to oust its dictator regime. Source: Aljazeera Magazine |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|