It is official now. The US and NATO are losing ground in Afghanistan. America’s top intelligence official has admitted that security in Afghanistan is ‘deteriorating’ and President Hamid Karzai’s government controls less than a third of the country. Think-tanks have been saying this lately in increasingly strident tones. US intelligence Chief Mike McConnell said that Taliban controls about 10% of the country, while the rest is under the sway of tribal chiefs.
If the US had hoped that the fall of Taliban in 2001 and the installation of the Karzai’s government would solve the Afghan problem, it was gravely mistaken. Four reasons can be attributed to the present mess in the country.
1- Karzai has been a failure as a pan-Afghan leader. He does not have the power that comes with having a personal militia. In Afghan politics having the loyalty of a large band of militia means clout. Karzai does not have this. Many other leaders in the present Kabul government have them and naturally they have their own personal agendas. That leaves Karzai powerless and impotent. He is merely the Mayor of Kabul and that too thanks to the US and NATO forces.
2- The Taliban has proved very tenacious. They refuse to die out. In fact, they are on a comeback. Their main strengths are the drug money and a ready heaven in the chaotic tribal areas of Pakistan.
3- Some NATO nations like Germany have been perennial foot-draggers when it comes to sending troops to Afghanistan. The US, already stretched in Iraq, is having to cough up more troops for Afghanistan. But this is proving to be inadequate. The lack of commitment on the part of NATO countries is a big reason for Taliban’s resurgence.
4- Afghanistan is very different from other countries. Tribes and associated tribal loyalties count more than an united Afghan identity. The US had hoped that a strong central government would prevail over all this. But this has not happened. Karzai has not been shrewd enough to sew a new Afghanistan together using and manipulating the myriad tribes. The result is a fragmented country. The US has recently started to recognize the power of the various Afghan tribes and has started to try and win them over with arms and humanitarian assistance.
Source: BBC
