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2 AFGHANISTAN'S
HIGHWAY TO HELL Rebuilding and
reconciliation By Syed Saleem
Shahzad
KABUL - The Bush administration's
decision to ask Congress to approve US$10.6
billion in aid for Afghanistan over the next two
years, along with projects launched by the British
Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the Pashtun
heartlands of southwestern Afghanistan, is part of
a new initiative to reactivate old tribal systems
to combat warlordism and the Talibanization of
society.
Even with all these resources,
though, it will be no easy task to return Afghan
society to the times when Kabul ruled
Afghanistan
through an emir of tribes
(chief of all tribes).
Afghanistan changed
dramatically with the emergence of socialism and
Islamists, both of which eroded traditional tribal
systems. Warlordism further reduced their
efficacy, as did the emergence of the Taliban.
The Taliban's rise not only changed tribal
dynamics in Afghanistan, it also caused problems
in the neighboring Pakistani Pashtun tribal areas,
notably South Waziristan and North Waziristan.
Here, the Pakistani army tried to hunt down
Taliban and al-Qaeda elements by exploiting tribal
structures through Islamabad's appointed political
agent.
However, the tribal system in
Pakistan, which is far stronger than
Afghanistan's, resisted efforts to isolate the
Taliban, whose ideology the youth found more
appealing than Islamabad's. More than 117 tribal
elders, besides dozens of mullahs (clerics) who
sided with the government, were "eliminated" and
many others either fled to Pakistani cities or
agreed to live under Taliban domination in the two
Waziristans.
With the Taliban planning a
mass uprising for the spring, it might be too late
to bring the tribals on the side of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization-led International
Security Assistance Force or the US.
Many
pro-Kabul officials Asia Times Online spoke to
expressed confidence that with extra money for
reconstruction flowing through tribal channels, it
will be possible to confront the Taliban's threat.
In the heart of Helmand A new
government has taken up residence in Lashkar Gah,
the capital of Helmand province, where the
Taliban-led insurgency has its strategic heart.
Asadullah Wafa, a 66-year-old Kandahari
royalist, replaced Engineer Daud, a qualified man
but out of tune with the tribals. Wafa is
Western-educated, but he is steeped in tribal
wisdom gained in previous governorships in Paktia
and Kunar provinces. Here, he succeeded in
striking ceasefire deals with Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan, which had
been fighting on the side of the Taliban.
Governor's House is barely a 10-minute
drive from the British task force base in Lashkar
Gah, but it is on high security alert. Although
various research polls claim that 80% of the
people of Lashkar Gah support the Hamid Karzai-led
government in Kabul, Governor's House has seen
several suicide attacks, the most recent being
this month.
"Sir, you will be seated in
the back and we will lock the doors. If our car
comes under attack, you will not unlock the doors.
Under no circumstances will you leave the car, and
don't panic." This was my briefing from a
specially trained security man, dressed in
civilian clothes, before I set out from the
British base to Governor's House in a
high-powered, four-wheel-drive, bullet-proof
vehicle.
"We are here to do the panicking
for you. If you suffer injuries during an attack,
don't worry, we have the best treatment
facilities. There are bottles of water on the
seat," the official concluded. He also checked
that I was not diabetic or suffering from high
blood pressure.
Joining me on the back
seat of the car was an adviser to the governor,
Thomas Tugendhat, who had made the arrangements
for me to meet the governor. As we drew up to his
offices, British security officials from an
accompanying vehicle took up positions around us,
and only then were our doors opened.
I had
already been informed that I would not be able to
speak to people outside the offices, as it was too
dangerous, but I could talk to those inside. The
governor's secretariat is manned by local Helmand
people, but all security officials are
non-Pashtuns of Dari-speaking stock. As we
entered, I noticed damage to the building caused
by the suicide attack, which claimed only the life
of the explosive-laden attacker.
We were
30 minutes early for our appointment with the
governor, so I was left waiting with my escort,
Major Andrew Bird, an Australian. Bird is a
smoker, like me, but he could not smoke in the
room and he could not go out and leave me alone.
"Saleem, do you want to smoke?" Bird
asked, saying we could go out together.
"Journalist wants to smoke. Secure the
area," ordered a British security man in the room
who had heard our conversation.
As I was
about to walk into the courtyard, Andrew grabbed
my arm and pulled me back. "Please, stay behind
me. Remember, buddy, if you get shot I am demoted
to a lieutenant."
As we smoked we
exchanged notes on the situation in southwestern
Afghanistan, and it was quite apparent how nervous
the British security guards were.
Finally,
Tugendhat came to take me to see the governor.
Outside his office, people from the Sangeen,
Nawzad and Musa Qala
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