AfghanNews.net - “Have Your Say”

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said an upsurge in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan was aimed at "testing" Western public opinion and warned the alliance would take tough action against anyone trying to derail Afghan reconstruction.

It’s a fact that during the last couple of months, Taliban have intensified their attacks not only against the U.S.-led coalition forces but also against the civilian targets. Yesterday they blown up a bus in southern city of Kandahar carrying Afghans working to nearby coalition military base. Such attacks indicate that Taliban have recently changed their tactics and they are carrying attacks similar to those conducted by insurgents in Iraq.

In coming months troops from various coalition countries including the Netherlands and Australia are moving to southern and eastern provinces where they’ll take the place of American troops. The recent bombing campaign by Taliban is also a clear warning to those nations which are coming to fight them under the banner of so-called Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). The pictures of Taliban attacking military and civilian targets are going around the world and “testing” the public opinion in those countries. The majority in those countries - contributing troops to Afghanistan - are against sending out troops but the ruling elite is going their own way in order to please their American friends in Washington. But I’m afraid that the public opinion will force them to change their minds if the casualty rate is high among their troops.

Sending more troops will not help to stabilise the situation but instead it will play as a catalyst which will result more bloodshed and miseries for Afghan people who are suffering enormous hardships and pain during the last couple of decades. The present setup in Afghanistan is a compromise of several world and regional powers who got their own interests in Afghanistan and the region as a whole. Instead of helping the real representative of Afghan people and progressive forces, the foreign powers have decided to support warlords, former Taliban elements and people who are equally responsible for the suffering of Afghan people. In present circumstances there is no light at the end of tunnel and in the coming weeks and months the situation on the ground will deteriorate very sharply.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, is a "severe blow" to global terrorism. Mr Karzai said Zarqawi had been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These words were also used by British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. I'm not sure that with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi the situation in Iraq will improve. The U.S. media, military and intelligence agencies actually made al-Zarqawi bigger than what he in fact was. I do agree that he and his group were responsible for alot of attacks in Iraq but there are other forces on the ground - Iraqi nationalists and elements loyal to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein - which play a more effective and prominent role in the Iraqi insurgency movement. The media doesn't give much exposure to other forces involved in insurgency, but instead all the attention has been devoted to secterian violence in the country.

If we analyze the situation on the ground in a rational way, then we shouldn't ignore the fact that Iraq is under moment under occupation at this moment and the U.S.-led forces try to impose a western style version of democracy which is very difficult to implement in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. We first have to create circumstances and conditions in which the democratic values can flourish and the most important point is to take into account the local culture and traditions otherwise the democratic process will face a certain deadlock. Violence and chaos will be the order of the day in societies where the local cultural and traditional values have been ignored and an imported version of western democracy has been imposed against the will of people. Afghanistan and Iraq are the perfect examples of this nearly failed experiment and I don't see that the situation on the ground will improve with the elimination of people like al-Zarqawi. The only way out is to re-address the core issues facing the people and to actively support the democratic and progressive forces instead of sectarian and religious fundamentalists in those countries.

Violent demonstrations that rocked Kabul a week ago caused "immense" damage to the reputation of Afghanistan, the United Nations said as the army admitted the unrest had been a wake-up call.

What kind of reputation are we talking about? When the Taliban's regime was toppeled in 2001, alot of people thought that the dark days were over and the Afghan people will be able to live in a peaceful society. At that moment international donor agencies and countries promised a huge sum of money for the reconstruction projects throughout the war-torn country. Billions of dollars were donated and "spent" but after five years it is very difficult to see any kind of improvment in people's daily life. Only a small group of elite profited from the aid which was meant for Afghan people. The donor agencies and countries were aware of the situation but they didn't take any steps to improve the situation. Common man is now running out of patience and they don't trust the present setup in the country. Talibans are taking advantage of this situation and they have stepped up their attacks during the last couple of weeks resulting in a large number of casualties on both sides.

If the government is really sincere in helping to improve the livelihood of Afghan people, they have to take practical steps like jobs, health care, education, infrastructure etc. otherwise the situation will get worse and it will be difficult for Afghan governemnt and the US backed coalition forces to bring it under control.

Sixteen Afghan soldiers have graduated from a new training program at Fort Bliss, armed with knowledge on how to fly Russian-made helicopters in anti-drug missions over their war-torn country. The men will now make their final preparations to head back to Afghanistan, where they are expected to immediately get to work trying to halt the booming narcotics trade.

I'm not sure if these steps will help to reduce drugs' production in Afghanistan. There might be a slight political will on the side of government to fight drugs but alot of highly placed Afghan officials earn a fortune out of it. The policies made in Kabul will be very diffucult to implement in provinces since most of local commanders are earning their share from this lucrative business.

We can't ignore the fact that the livelihood of a large number of farmers, living in countryside, depends on cultivating and selling drugs. The incentives offered to these local farmers don't go far enough for them to switch from drugs to other agricultural products. Unless there is comprehensive plan and political will on the part of government to tackle this issue, I'm not optimistic that this problem will be solved in near future.

Do you think that there is a clear political will to slove this problem? Do you think that steps taken are enough to curb this issue? Or do you have any other idea to solve drug problematic?