[Peace-discuss] Coming Battle of Kabul?

[E. Wayne Johnson]

"Just come home..."  "Come home, America."



C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> "The Taliban is forming an ever tightening noose around Kabul with ... 
> three out of four main highways into the capital city now compromised 
> by Taliban."
>
>     The Arrogance and Ignorance
>     By Yvonne Ridley
>     December 10, 2008
>     Information Clearinghouse
>
> THE TALIBAN now holds a permanent presence of 72 per cent of 
> Afghanistan according to the latest report by an influential think tank.
>
> But within hours of the International Council on Security and 
> Development (ICOS) releasing this news various politicians and 
> ambassadors from Afghanistan, America and Britain criticised its 
> contents.
>
> The reality is none of these people really know what is happening on 
> the ground in Afghanistan because it is not safe to travel and if any 
> of them do venture out it is rarely beyond the confines of Kabul.
>
> The reason I know the ICOS report carries weight is because I have 
> just returned from Afghanistan myself and, unlike most politicians, 
> diplomats and journalists who go to the country, I went in unescorted.
>
> The Taliban is forming an ever tightening noose around Kabul with, as 
> ICOS says, three out of four main highways into the capital city now 
> compromised by Taliban.
>
> How do I know? Because I drove around Afghanistan with film-maker 
> Hassan al Banna Ghani and saw the evidence with my own eyes - we 
> nearly got our heads blown off for our troubles as well, having 
> inadvertently driven into a firefight between Taliban fighters and 
> Afghan police 30 minutes from Kabul on the main road to Ghazni.
>
> We drove up from Peshawar, through the dramatic and historic Khyber 
> Pass, down into Torkham and from there we had a straight run via 
> Jalalabad to Kabul.
>
> It’s an amazing drive, possibly one of the most scenic routes in the 
> world but it wasn’t the backdrop of the Hindu Kush or the fertile 
> green valleys cloaked in a gossamer-like morning mist peaking out from 
> rows of jagged mountain peaks ahead which took my breath away on this 
> occasion.
>
> It was the fresh roadside carnage which punctuated the drive to the 
> Afghan capital. We must have seen the skeletons of nearly 20 oil 
> tankers targetted by rocket propelled grenade launchers in the hands 
> of the Taliban.
>
> These are images British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, US President 
> elect Barack Obama or Hamid Karzai are unlikely to see for themselves 
> because the only safe way to get to Kabul is to fly in to the airport.
>
> We didn’t have the luxury of choice, so our decision to drive this 
> treacherous route was based on the fact we couldn’t hang around 
> Islamabad for another we before getting a seat on a flight.
>
> But I am glad we did because it gave us a chance to see for ourselves 
> what is happening on the ground in Afghanistan. it gave us an 
> opportunity to talk to ordinary people who have to live day in and day 
> out without the luxury of a heavily armed military escort, or a 
> heavily fortified place to work and an even more heavily guarded place 
> to sleep.
>
> For the next week we travelled by road, by car, unescorted in to areas 
> and provinces that other foreigners dare not go and as I said earlier, 
> we nearly paid a heavy price for our amazing footage.
>
> And thanks to that experience, I can read the ICOS report coming from 
> a point of knowledge that the Western leaders and all of their 
> advisers simply do not have.
>
> That is why it would be foolish to dismiss ICOS claims that the 
> Taliban now holds a permanent presence in 72% of Afghanistan, up from 
> 54% a year ago. They have advanced from their southern heartlands, 
> where they are now the de facto governing power in a number of towns 
> and villages, to Afghanistan’s western and north-western provinces, as 
> well as provinces north of Kabul.
>
> Norine MacDonald QC, President and Lead Field Researcher of ICOS told 
> a London press conference: “The Taliban are now controlling the 
> political and military dynamic in Afghanistan.
>
> “Despite increasingly dire levels of security in Afghanistan in recent 
> months, there has been surprisingly little change in response from the 
> international community. The insurgency continues to turn NATO’s 
> weaknesses into its own strengths,” she added.
>
> “The Taliban are closing a noose around Kabul, and there is a real 
> danger that the Taliban will simply overrun Afghanistan under the 
> noses of NATO,” said Paul Burton, Director of Policy for ICOS.
>
> The British Ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles 
> commented on the report on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme on Monday 
> morning in a dismissive fashion, saying: “I'm afraid the methodology 
> in the report is seriously flawed. I mean for example its map of 
> Kabul, which I have in front of me, shows the area where I'm sitting 
> talking to you from now, across which I drove this morning to see 
> President Karzai, as being under heavy Taliban influence.
>
> “It's quite the reverse: Afghans are strolling in the streets, 
> celebrating the Eid. It counts as one incident in the province the 
> size of Yorkshire, meaning that that province is under permanent 
> Taliban control. It's a very thin piece of work”.
>
> The arrogance and ignorance of Sir Sherard is nothing short of 
> breath-taking. No foreigner dare venture out for a stroll in Kabul 
> unescorted because of kidnap fears. And I’d like to bet he went under 
> heavily armed escorts to do his interview.
>
> I have seen the British Embassy in Kabul - it is hidden behinds vast 
> mounds of concrete bunkers, barbed wire and a heavily armed guard 
> presence. You can’t just stroll in to the embassy there like I did in 
> March 2003.
>
> I know nothing about Sir Sherard, but I’d like to bet he doesn’t go 
> for a stroll anywhere in Kabul, but I do know Norine MacDonald, author 
> of the report. She is one gutsy lady who comes from a point of 
> knowledge because she does get out on the ground - Kabul and beyond.
>
> Furthermore I’ve seen her sit on her hunkers and talk with Afghan men 
> - and women - about their hopes, needs and fears in some of the most 
> dangerous areas of Afghanistan.
>
> Also speaking on the Today programme was Afghan MP Shukria Barakzai 
> who when asked about the report said: “I'm surprised. This is not the 
> truth. If Taliban's that much powerful so where's these Coalition 
> forces and Afghan Government themselves? I don't think the Taliban 
> will be that much powerful although there is a lack of security, this 
> is the truth.
>
> “The Taliban is still a threat for security and somehow the Coalition 
> forces, also in some places they are threat for security, particularly 
> for civilians, but I completely disagree with such figures which has 
> been made.”
>
> I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting Shukria, an amazing woman from 
> an extremely wealthy and privileged background - being rich is not a 
> crime but I can tell you that Shukria will not have stepped outside of 
> Kabul unless by air.
>
> She is a bright, intelligent woman and I was delighted when she became 
> an MP because she has a good heart and a deep love for her country.
>
> I am really fearful about plans to vastly increase the US and British 
> presence in Afghanistan. I can tell you the Taliban are rubbing their 
> hands with glee at the thought of what they regard as a “bigger army, 
> bigger target and more shiny new weapons to take from the toy soldiers”.
>
> The American presence is loathed in Afghanistan even among those who 
> don’t want to see the Taliban back in power. This is down to many 
> things not least of all their arrogance, refusal to acknowledge or 
> even try and understand the culture and their habit of shooting at any 
> motorist who tries to overtake their slow-moving convoys.
>
> Think about it - when you have an open road ahead why should you have 
> to sit behind a bunch of armoured personnel vehicles doing less than 
> 20mph?
>
> And try talking to an Afghan motorist who sits patiently in a traffic 
> jam only to have his car scrunched and shunted to the side by a US 
> convoy which has decided to create its own traffic free lane. he will 
> tell you exactly what he thinks about the behavior of Uncle Sam’s boys.
>
> Then there’s the endless list of US missile strikes on wedding parties 
> which have slaughtered innocent Afghans - very rarely are these 
> murders followed up by an apology but they continue to happen.
>
> Norine also called for a free and open media - that would be nice but 
> there is also documented evidence that anyone writing against the US 
> occupation can expect a visit from the Americans. I spoke to one young 
> such journalist who ended up being kidnapped, beaten and thrown in a 
> cell in Bagram for 18 hours after revealing out of date US army 
> rations were being sold on the black market in Kabul.
>
> Guess what, the story is true as I found out trolling through the 
> goods on sale at an open air market in Kabul. There indeed were US 
> army rations on sale - and we have Hassan’s film to prove it.
>
> The western leaders can either choose to remain in denial and send in 
> more troops while listening to pompous civil servants, politicians and 
> diplomats who say only what they think their masters want to hear, or 
> they can sit down and read the ICOS report and act upon it.
>
> There are solutions to the Afghan crisis and removing the arrogant, 
> ignorant US military is one way - and take out the Brits too because 
> Afghans can no longer distinguish between the two.
>
> Bombard the people with genuine aid and not artillery shells and give 
> the Afghan Government real support instead of aid with conditions 
> attached.
>
> Genuine job creation schemes offering decent money is a good start. 
> And while it might be nice to have career women emerging from the 
> rubble of Kabul, start with the men first. Give them their dignity 
> back by providing real jobs.
>
> Given the choice between starvation or fighting for the Taliban for 
> around $40 dollars a month, I know what decision I would make. Think 
> about it - it’s a no brainer.
>
> Yvonne Ridley and Hassan al Banna Ghani’s documentary: In Search of 
> Prisoner 650 will be broadcast on Press TV in early 2009.
>
> http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21428.htm
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