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Afghanistan: Taliban on the Run

The troops of the international alliance against terrorism have still not been able to apprehend the leaders the Taliban and Al Qaeda; Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden respectively. Yet the United States felt, around mid-November, that it had vindicated its “War on Terrorism.” The US said that it had discovered crucial evidence against Osama Bin Laden in the form of video taped confessions. Indeed video footage of Al Qaeda leader was broadcast throughout the world, allegedly showing him talking about how the September 11^th attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington were planned. Some doubted this evidence.

Talks in Germany, and the defeat of Taliban and Al Qaeda forces nearly all over Afghanistan, led to the creation of an interim Afghan government. There was certainly much celebration when the Taliban were pushed out of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Kabul’s residents, who had for years been subjected to the brutality and the human rights’ abuses of the regime, celebrated and played music quite openly. This had been strictly banned under the regime, just like television and other things that many citizens of other countries take for granted - particularly in the West.

Many men also celebrated by shaving off their long beards, while most women revealed their faces in public for the first time in years. Yet all of these celebrations did not stop the bloodshed, which still goes on as the international alliance continues to pursue Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden. Media reports continue to suggest that Osama Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader, has managed to cross the border to Pakistan, but there is nothing yet to confirm this speculation. Mullah Omar has apparently also escaped on a motorcycle and his whereabouts are unknown.

More worrying is the fact that the US action in Afghanistan seems to have set a dangerous precedent. The United States has backed off from trying to restore the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israel has taken severe action, even against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is blamed for harbouring Islamic extremists, following several suicide bombings by Palestinian hardliners on Israeli soil. Many of these extremists are thought to be beyond his control.. No-one should condone the bloodshed on both sides, particularly as the Israeli action is likely to encourage more Palestinians to take up the suicide bombers’ cause.

This precedent of attacking another country, because of the belief that it is harbouring terrorists, has also led to a deterioration of relations between India and Pakistan. The current near war-footing, which British Prime Minister Tony Blair is keen to reverse, is a direct consequence of the Kashmiri separatists attacks on the Indian Parliament during December 2001. The Indian Government, which is in dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, accused President Musharraf of Pakistan of doing little to stop the Kashmiri separatists. Pakistan is even accused of backing them. Yet the Pakistani President – whom the international alliance against terrorism has much relied upon – hopes that mass arrests and a speech will calm his country’s tensions with India.

While the US has hopes for a resolution to the crisis between India and Pakistan, and despite the capture today of many Taliban and Al Qaeda soldiers, there is no sight of when Osama Bin Laden will be captured. The interim government of Afghanistan should be supported without doubt, but our fingers should be crossed in hope that George W. Bush has not let an uncontrollable cat out of the bag by establishing a precedent for further regional conflicts.

Tony Blair, in the meantime, may soon learn that his vision is not supported by everyone in the world. This was particularly demonstrated by his comments to the Indian Prime minister over the Kashmir question. Just like Robin Cook before him, the Prime Minister appears to have stuck his nose where it isn’t wanted. Indeed the Prime Minister is also facing much political and media criticism for being abroad too much, just when the railways and other British public services are in crisis. Is he also on the run? Heaven knows!

Graham Jarvis MA, 12^th January 2002

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