BLAME GAME

By Eng. Ajmal Shams, The News International 17 September 2006

While the atmosphere still remains relatively tense as far as the relations
between the neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan are concerned, a window
of opportunity remains open in terms of a number of commonalties that
define geo-politics in the two countries. There are many areas where the two
countries have had to adopt conflicting stances. However, there do exist
some common grounds which can help the two neighboring countries to
transform the existing tense political environment into more of a congenial
atmosphere appropriate for confidence building measures. These include, but
are not limited to, the combat against terrorism, the fight against drugs and a
common desire for rapid economic development. The problem lies in the fact
that the two countries have not yet been able to evolve a mutually agreed
strategy whereby the above-mentioned objectives can be achieved within the
context of their respective national interests and geopolitical goals.

There has been a gradual increase in the Taliban insurgency, especially in the
Southern and Eastern Afghanistan over the past two years which has
seriously hampered reconstruction and developmental process besides
putting the government credibility at stake. Pakistan is being portrayed to be
primarily responsible for this growing wave of the Taliban activities and not
without understandable reasons. It is not just the Afghan government and
intelligentsia, but also ordinary Afghans who have been pointing the accusing
finger at Pakistan that the former has been covertly collaborating with the
insurgents. While it is true that there might be certain elements in Afghan
government who would rather like this blame-game to continue for their own
vested interests, the fact remains, however, that after their defeat by the US
military the remnants of Taliban and Alqaeda went into hiding inside the tribal
belt along the Pak-Afghan border for shelter and support. The initial few years
of Karzai’s government provided them with an opportunity to reorganize and
get replenished to be able to re-emerge with renewed tactics of guerrilla
warfare.

Most analysts tend to oversimplify the Taliban phenomena. They usually

overlook the multi-faceted nature of their background and fail to view them in
a broader international context that encompasses the wider Alqaeda network
to which some regional powers, local miscreants, druglords and vested
interests have become partners. The result appears as killing of innocent
lives, destabilised government and disrupted reconstruction activities.

Ever since the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent events like
Islamic revolution in Iran and the uprising in Kashmir and Palestine, Islamic
extremism has been steadily growing particularly among the economically
desperate classes of the Muslim Societies. Therefore the current wave of
Islamic Radicalism, irrespective of the nature of its historical development, is
a function of ideological, political and economic factors that are now affecting
the Muslim societies in one way or another. The most desperate and
economically disadvantaged groups in the Muslim world are the main targets
of those seeking political advantage for their own extremist agendas. Soon
after the tragic events of September 11, President Bush declared that
terrorism in Afghanistan will be fought on three different fronts i.e. military,
political and economic. Unfortunately the battle on political and economic
fronts has not achieved its targeted objectives although billions of dollars
have been spent so far and the efforts for reconciliation and bringing in the
Taliban into the mainstream have not brought any substantial results.

As mentioned earlier, Afghanistan and Pakistan have never engaged in a

serious dialogue aimed at evolving a joint strategy to fight the growing
terrorism in both countries, with Afghanistan being the main target. The
constantly increasing insurgency in Afghanistan has made the political
environment so tense which does not allow any friendly gesture from either
side to pave the way for restoring confidence. Pakistan with a well-
established and professional army is in a much better position to combat
terrorists on its soil. From the number of casualties its army has suffered by
the Taliban and Alqaeda in Waziristan it might appear that the country is
determined to flush out the remnants of the extremist groups. On top of that
the government has managed to round up hundreds of Alqaeda activists and
has turned them over to US authorities, getting the latter’s appreciation in its
war on terror. However, the efficacy of such efforts becomes questionable
with a non-stop Taliban violence especially in Southern Afghanistan.

Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have been termed as failed states by US

based organization Fund for Peace, ranking ninth and tenth on the failed
states index respectively. It would be wise for them to do more to combat the
menace of terrorism through a joint strategy, mutual trust and efficient
information sharing system because the scourge of terrorism is the biggest
enemy of stability and development.

President Musharraf during his recent visit to Afghanistan delivered a

comprehensive speech to a large gathering of Afghan parliamentarians and
high-ranking government officials highlighting his government’s efforts to
combat terrorism through military and political means. He also called for a
joint strategy to scholarly approach the issue of Talibanisation in both Afghan
and Pakistani societies. One can only wait and see how the recent truce
between Pakistani government and the Taliban and Alqaeda operatives will
impact the intensity of insurgent operations in Afghanistan. The initial
euphoria has already started diminishing with several consecutive suicide
attacks only a day after President Musharraf returned home. If Musharraf
really means business then Afghanistan is definitely expecting to see a
reduction in the Taliban insurgency in the near future because actions speak
louder than words.

The writer is President of Afghanistan Social Democratic Party (Afghan

Mellat)