Massoud, Karzai and the War in Afghanistan

Last November I wrote a blog about Afghanistan. I said then that with the announcement that France and America will be pulling out their troops between now and 2014, the political powers in Afghanistan will need to rethink their positions. President Karzai is already in negotiations with the Taliban and Al-Qaida. Anyone in his position would be doing the same thing.

It also seems that Karzai, a member of the tribal group ethnically linked to Iran that makes up 40% of the Afghan population, has also begun to seek a rapprochement with Iran. We already know, because he has said so, that Karzai accepts financial support from Iran.

It seems more and more likely that the international force now engaged in the country will finally withdraw without having accomplished its mission, that of ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban and Al-Qaida, and leaving the country free of civil war.

Frankly, the West ought to be getting out of Afghanistan. The British used up a large part of the 19^th century trying unsuccessfully to “pacify” them. The Soviet invasion and occupation in the 1980s failed spectacularly and probably was a cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The American-led UN force has not done much better since it began its effort in 2002.

The truth is that Afghanistan is an ancient country made up of several tribal components which have more or less always waged bloody wars against each other when they were not united to defeat invaders. The only real change any of the occupiers has made is to have installed Islam.

The Allies freed Afghanistan from the Taliban, but without Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Afghan muhajhideen guerrilla leader credited by the Wall Street Journal with winning the Cold War by his rout of the Soviet Union, nothing would have been accomplished. He was a guerrilla warfare genius, and a sunni Muslim who rallied his countrymen with his winning military tactics and his less fanatic interpretation of Islam. He was killed on the 9^th of September, 2001 and his death is marked by a national holiday every year on that date.

It was Massoud who tried to warn the West that an imminent attack on America was in the making. It came just two days after his assassination. Massoud is called the Lion of Panjshir by his people, who also use the name Amir Sahib-e Shahdi, Our Beloved Martyred Commander, to describe him.

I mention Massoud because he represents the type of leader who can win in Afghanistan. All the military technology and fire power in the world will not win if it is not used by a new Massoud who understands Afghanistan and its culture. The West would be better served by finding someone to replace Massoud and giving him the job of forging a modern country in Afghanistan. Karzai is not the person.