So with Canada having been the first major player in a combat role to announce it would be pulling its combat troops from the south I became instantly concerned for the people of Afghanistan. Then the US announced it would be drawing down its forces by ten thousand and then twenty thousand and then hoping to fully pull out by 2014.
All of the major western countries have said that their combat missions will be over in 2014. But is this really in the best interest of Afghans or is it just American's and the Western Countries being selfish? Personally I think pulling out of Afghanistan by 2014 is completely selfish, the American people are whining and complaining about the losses they are taking without thinking about the poor Afghans who are in this mess completely due to them.
Fact is if it weren't for the American's Afghanistan would be a stable country. Firstly the communist Russian Government would have been able to control Afghanistan if the US hadn't armed the different rebel groups to fight it off. After the ten year war with the USSR the US had given the militia weapons which those militia then used on one another and then the civilian populace leading to nearly 20 years of brutal and bloody civil war in which hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are believed to have died. Then the Taliban finally restores order and unifies the Government but they shelter Osama Bin Laden who then attacks America leading to America needing to respond militarily.
If the US had never interfered to begin with the Soviets would have created an Afghan Government. Then when the Soviet Union collapsed that Government would have been independant and may have even gone democratic. Now of course I believe that the American's did what was in there best interest at the time and it was likely the best move. However the US abandoned the people of Afghanistan they should have sent troops and advisers to Afghanistan as soon as the Soviets pulled out. They should have done everything possible to stabilize the country and ensure a smooth transition of authority. Instead the US turned a blind eye to Afghanistan and allowed horrible atrocities to be committed until finally the US was attacked.
It paints a picture that American's only care about themselves. The people of the United States don't really give a shit about the democratic rights of human beings around the globe. They appear ot only care about their cheese burgers and apple pies. They turn a blind eye unless it suites them and this isn't the Government's fault entirely it is the American people's fault. Example Libya, Gaddafi was about to commit a huge act of genocide he had surrounded Benghazi and was about to enter the city. He announced that his troops would go door to door rounding up all those who opposed him and they would be slaughtered like rats. Yet the American people were not completely supportive. Then within weeks of the campaign the American people were actually beginning to oppose the action by the time Gaddafi had been removed from power the support for the Libyan intervention was really low.
Fact is the pull out of Afghanistan is just because the self absorbed American public doesn't care about anyone but themselves. But what about the Afghan people?
Well I just watched a program this morning on the deterioration of Afghanistan in the last two years. It stated that despite the 30,000 troops in Kandahar Taliban still openly patrol the streets. Taliban still whip and assault women in daylight in front of everyone when a women is not completely covered.
The documentary mentioned over a hundred schools in Kandahar had been burnt to the ground. It stated hundreds of women had been killed by poisoning, burnt alive or from suicide due to their living conditions. It stated that the Afghan Army and Police were corrupt and incapable of actually protecting people. A women interviewed said she saw a man posting a warning on her door telling her she had to quite her job or the Taliban would decapitate her children , rape her and burn her alive. She witnessed this man posting the notice and saw a police officer down the street she screamed to the officer but the officer let the man go without doing anything.
The Afghan Government has already gone back on its word reducing the amount of women in Government jobs and also reducing religious freedom. The Afghan Government has attempted to execute several people for being of a different faith. Karzai had approved of a peace deal with the Taliban in which according to the documentary he said that the Government system would need to change. Karzai himself never mentioned what changes would occur. But the documentary crew interviewed some of the Taliban negotiators saying that the Taliban were wanting all females out of office and that the Afghan Government was likely to comply. Luckily the Taliban killed the leader of the negotiations which caused them to break down.
But the fact is if the Coalition and Afghan forces can't control Kandahar how can we expect the Afghan security forces to do so without the Coalition combat troops? If the Afghan Government is already resorting to torture, execution of political prisoners and people of different faiths as well as going back on promises of equality to women. How can the west leave?
The documentary asked several women and civilians in Kandahar and Kabul if they thought America pulling out is a good thing. The majority said they wanted America to leave eventually but to leave now would be a death sentence for all those who supported them and democracy in Afghanistan.
So it would appear the only ones who will benefit from the West pulling out is the western politicians who will win votes. In fact the Afghan people will lose a lot as the west betrays them and turns their backs. Then if the Afghan Government falls or turns into Taliban V2.0 the threat of another terrorist attack on US soil from Afghanistan is just as great as prior to the invasion.
If America pulls out and the Afghan human rights deteriorate and the government once again becomes a safe haven for terrorists all those American soldiers that died will have died for absolutely nothing. The voters in the US and U.K might has well just picked up a gun and shot them themselves because that is essentially what they will have done by pulling forces out of Afghanistan!
-JC7
"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer
