SPEAKING
FREELY The
pan-Afghan imperative By Khalil
Nouri and Michael Hughes
Speaking
Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows
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Ethno-sectarian
violence engulfing Afghanistan after the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization's 2014 exit has
become something of a fait accompli, especially
given the depth and intensity of the divide
between the Pashtuns and northern minority groups.
To be sure, Pakistan and the United States
have stoked the flames of intra-Afghan animus in
pursuit of broader geostrategic aims. However,
unless the Afghans can come to some internal
political accommodation,
all roads will lead to civil war - with or without
external interference.
For all practical
purposes the Afghans are stuck in the middle of a
US-Pakistani proxy war with the Americans backing
the Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras of the former
Northern Alliance against Pakistan's extended
expeditionary force, the Taliban, which consists
primarily of Pashtuns from the south and east.
Exploiting Afghan rivalries is a legacy of
the British colonial "divide and conquer"
stratagem which Pakistan inherited at the dawn of
the Cold War. But the Pakistanis haven't been
content with simply dividing, they've tried to
destroy the very fabric of Pashtun tribal culture
and replace it with a violently radical strain of
Islam.
By providing militants with
sanctuary and pitting Pashtuns against minorities
in the north, Islamabad has been able to "keep the
pot boiling" in an effort to keep Kabul under its
thumb, part and parcel of its "strategic depth"
doctrine driven by Pakistan's illusory competition
with an ambivalent India.
The US, for its
part, exacerbated tensions when it supported the
Northern Alliance during the post-9/11 Taliban
takedown. NATO has also built up a primarily
non-Pashtun central army to prevent the Taliban
from taking Kabul after 2014. Meanwhile, amidst
this military stalemate, the CIA will continue its
counter-terror operations against suspected
anti-Western elements within the Pashtun tribal
belt.
Afghanistan has been an acephalous
society beset by a certain degree of ethnic and
tribal rivalry for most of the past millennium.
However, one could describe it as a form of
"regulated anarchy" that was kept in check by a
unifying monarch, especially during a 40-year era
of "peaceful coexistence" which ended when
superpowers began meddling in Afghan affairs in
the 1970s. But even then one would never describe
it as racial antagonism. In fact, since
Afghanistan was founded in the mid-18th century it
had enjoyed a long history of ethnic, cultural and
religious pluralism until the US and Soviet Union
began using it as a geopolitical chessboard. The
country has never seen the type of racial animus
that has plagued Afghanistan for the past 30 plus
years.
For centuries the disparate Afghan
tribes and ethnicities rallied whenever threatened
by foreign domination. But because of societal
fragmentation, the death of the dynastic principle
and the absence of a well-respected national
leader, the Afghans now lack a common lineal
thread that could unify the nation. As a result,
inter-ethnic ties have become so corroded
Afghanistan will be too weak to defend itself
against external actors like Pakistan after the
international coalition leaves.
Afghanistan's vulnerability derives from a
lack of political legitimacy, which will never be
attained until there is ethnic and sectarian
unity. Multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian political
parties do not even exist for the Afghans have
failed to share a common platform due to lack of
direction.
The Afghans do have a common
foe to rally against in Pakistan. Hence, the time
is ripe for ethnic unity, balanced security forces
and a "Pashtun awakening" that can restore
Afghanistan's sacred tribal structure and reverse
Pakistan's de-Pashtunization operations.
Prominent members from civil society from
both sides of the ethnic divide have stepped
forward recently and called for unification.
Unfortunately, they have largely been ignored by
the coalition, which has its eyes on the exit
doors as the US continues to prop up the corrupt
Karzai regime and local warlords who have a vested
interest in maintaining the status quo. Not to
mention, it seems the US wants to strike a
power-sharing arrangement between the Afghan
government and the Taliban - an unholy alliance
that could only make things worse.
Most
Afghans long for pluralism, equality and political
participation and the first step in realizing such
a vision is the establishment of the country's
first ever pan-Afghan political party. The US has
a horrible record of trying to "pick winners" and
must give Afghans of all ethnicities enough space
to allow such an inclusive movement to come to
fruition.
Incessant warfare over the
course of the past three decades has engendered a
culture of hesitancy amongst the Afghans, who are
now voiceless and paralyzed with fear. A vibrant
pan-Afghan movement can foster national
solidarity, empower the silent majority,
strengthen internal resolve and pave the way for
the founding of a legitimate nation-state.
Khalil Nouri and Michael
Hughes are foreign policy strategists with the
New World Strategies Coalition (NWSC), an Afghan
native think tank that focuses on developing
non-military solutions for Afghanistan. Hughes and
Nouri have, collectively, been published in The
Huffington Post, CNN, Examiner.com, The Salem
News, The Seattle Times and Afghan Online Press,
among others, and have made several media
appearances on BBC Pashto, RT News and Alhurra
TV.
(Copyright 2012 Khalil Nouri and
Michael Hughes)
Speaking Freely is an
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