Patrick Seale on Afghanistan

By John Ballard

Patrick Seale is a leading British writer on the Middle East, and the author of The Struggle for Syria; also, Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East; and Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and read Middle East history at St. Antony�s College, Oxford. He studied Arabic at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies in Lebanon.

He has been honored by Oxford University with a doctorate (D. Litt) and is a Senior Associate Member of St. Antony�s College.

His journalistic experience includes six years with Reuters, and over twelve with The Observer (London). He has covered the Middle East, Africa and India.
Patrick Seale lives in Paris, France.

 

Can the Afghan Problem be Solved?

In what is nothing less than a cry of alarm, Germany, France and Britain have called for an international conference on Afghanistan before the end of the year. This initiative reflects the urgency of the situation, and must be applauded.

There is wide recognition in Europe -- and increasingly also in the United States -- that the war against the Taliban is going badly; that Coalition casualties and costs are spiralling; and that restive Western opinion is beginning to demand a timetable for withdrawal.

In spite of some relatively bullish statements from Western leaders, including from the new NATO secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the truth is that there is not even a glimmer of light at the end of this atrocious tunnel. The war in Afghanistan is a deadly trap which has the potential to inflict serious damage on the armies and economies of the countries waging it, on the future of the NATO alliance, and even on the mandate of U.S. President Barack Obama. It is also inflicting terrible damage on Afghanistan.

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For readers interested to learn more about the problem posed by this line, there is no better guide than an article by Bijan Omrani, entitled �The Durand Line: History and Problems of the Afghan-Pakistan Border,� in the July issue of the journal Asian Affairs, published in London.

As Mr Omrani explains, the Pashtuns on both sides of the line have no unified political institutions. They are governed by their simple tribal code, which is Pashtunwali, or the way of the Pashtuns. Melmastia means that hospitality and protection must be given to every guest. Nanawati means that asylum and sanctuary must be given to every fugitive, even to a bitter enemy. Badal is the rule of vendetta, which means that every insult, every theft, every attack on one�s family, every wounding or killing, must be avenged. Settlement of a vendetta can sometimes be reached at a tribal gathering or jirga, by the payment of blood money or the handing over of a daughter to the offended party as a wife or slave.

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What is required, according to Omrani, is a broad vision for the wider region involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran and the states of Central Asia. Neither America, nor Britain, nor any member of the NATO coalition, appears to have such a vision.

Omrani writes: �There needs to be an immediate collaboration between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the assistance of regional powers, some means of demilitarisation of the Tribal Areas, and investment on both sides of the line. The creation of a free trade area running from India through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Central Asia should be held as a long-term goal.� But he adds that �it is difficult to see this happening in the near future.� The Taliban will not participate until all foreign forces are expelled from the country.

The international conference on Afghanistan, which the major European powers want to convene before the end of the year, should declare a truce with the Taliban, bring military operations to a halt, and prepare to address the real problems of what is one of the most neglected parts of the world.

Looks like a must-read to me.

Somebody tell the president. Quick.

Here's a tantalizing little snip from the linked article by Bijan Omrani.

...there is, perhaps, one frontier dispute that trumps all the rest in terms of the world's current security concerns. That is the Durand Line, the notorious frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some people blame this frontier for all of Afghanistan's current problems. And there are those who go so far as to blame it for the problems in Pakistan. Indeed, there are those who blame the Durand line not just for terrorism and other problems of instability in Pakistan, but even for the terrorist attacks we suffered in London in July 2005, tracing their origins all the way back to the tribal agencies of North-West Pakistan. Some people have even been so bold as to say that everything in Afghanistan would be sorted out if only the United States could cross over the frontier and 'do its thing' there. Such commentators seem little daunted by the fact that British administrators spent 150 years trying in vain to resolve the same problems which confront us today.

Sounds to me like Dienbienphu on steroids. Have we forgotten already?
Oh, wait, that was the French.
We had to learn later in Saigon.