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http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...noble-failure/
The Great Cop Out
It only took 11 years, but the realization that the Afghan war is a disastrous failure has dawned upon politicians, academics and the media here in Canada. While a few former champions of the war have retained some dignity and have acknowledged the gross miscalculations, falsehoods and incorrect assumptions that underpinned the drive to war, we are now witnessing the shameful concluding act in this cursed play: the cop out.
Unable to comprehend or understand what went wrong, pundits and commentators have resorted to the tried and tested tactic of blaming others. This horrid excuse has taken many manifestations, depending on the audacity of the writer. It has ranged from absolving the West of all responsibility for this failure, to blaming Pakistan, and even the Afghans themselves.
The Toronto Sun’s Peter Worthington spoke in favour of the Afghan debacle for the better part of a decade, only to throw his hands in the air in frustration and blame Pakistan. His February 2012 article advocated for a reduction in US aid to the country.
One wonders why it took him a decade to realize the very basic geopolitical fact that Pakistan was allied with the Taliban. The fact that they were one of only three nations that recognized the Taliban regime, provided significant arms and funding, and even engaged in a massive airlift of Pakistani paramilitaries, soldiers and intelligence “assets” from Kunduz in late 2001, seems lost on him. Even the recommendation is generically tame. Cut funding? How about declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, the ISI a terrorist organization, and place sanctions and arms embargoes on the nation until we see a shift in policy? That wont happen any time soon, and so we’ll have to continue to make due with Uncle Sam’s wink wink nudge nudge relationship with the neo Mughal generals of the Land of the Pure.
It would be nice to see what Mr Worthington, having finally seen the light on Pakistan, thinks of a war effort predominately fought in rural Afghan villages, targeting front line Talibs who cant point out Islamabad on a map, let alone New York. I wont hold my breath for more of his up to speed analysis. Instead, we’ll settle for his July 2011 article where he essentially admits the war is and always was a lost cause, but hey at least it won our country respect in the world and gave the army “confidence”. I sincerely hope the families of a 150 plus dead Canadians and countless Afghans can rest easy tonight, knowing that the death of their loved ones made Canada less of an after thought in the corridors of power in Washington.
By far the greatest disgrace, not surprisingly, comes from the pages of the National Post, via Jonathan Kay. His February 2012 column decried Afghanistan as a “noble project that became a noble failure”. Predictably, he sets his sights first on the endemic corruption in Afghanistan. Having thrown in a little disclaimer about the role Western consultants and NGO’s have played in the corruption, he then turns to the Afghans, with his blood stained hands wagging condescendingly. Kay seems genuinely shocked that Afghans succumbed to the lure of corruption. The very idea that a devastated, impoverished nation emerging from 30 years of war would-in the complete absence of any meritocracy based government and lack of oversight of funds distribution- scramble to line its pockets, seems a very surprising development for Kay.
His article won’t talk about how before the war even began, the CIA paid out millions of dollars in bribes to war lords and tribal chieftains, or how the Americans allowed these same warlords to take the capital and establish itself as the new ruling class. Kay’s article certainly doesn’t mention that many of these warlords then integrated their militias into the fledgling Afghan security apparatus and the various private security firms that have blossomed in the country, securing millions in contracts.
So to recap, the West invaded Afghanistan, paid off warlords, bought the allegiance of all sorts of unscrupulous characters who were completely unaccountable, turned a blind eye to a booming drug trade, empowered criminals at all levels of government, creating a criminal “anything goes” culture, spent billions on a war effort, delivered aid with little to no oversight (and thats without mentioning the percentage of aid that left the country in the form of salaries or tax breaks), oversaw fraudulent elections and parliamentary proceedings making a mockery of democracy and human rights, continued to send billions in aid to the Pakistani military, and turned a blind eye to kickbacks to the Taliban.
But Afghanistan failed itself?
Kay’s reprehensible ignorance of Afghan history may be unsurprising but it doesn’t make it any less shameful. He trashes Afghanistan as an “impoverished landlocked backwater” and an “ancient basket case”, but provides absolutely no historical context, leaving the readers to conclude that this is how things are and always have been in Afghanistan. This in turn, makes it easier for the delusional and self righteous supporters of the Afghan war to conclude, as does Kay, that Afghanistan “failed itself”.
But perhaps Kay would care to explain to us, what was the Great Game? The 19th century geopolitical waltz in Central Asia between the Russians and the British, resulting in land annexations, invasions and encroachments that left Afghanistan the landlocked buffer state it is today, a rump state increasingly devoid of any logic or meaning to its creation. Im sure the political class of 19th century London found a way to blame the Afghans for that mess as well. And how about the 20th century Cold War, which barely left a single country on Earth untouched from its machinations and brutality?
Are Communism and Capitalism Afghan ideologies? The famed gun markets of Darra Adam Khel aside, were the tanks, air craft, stingers and Kalashnikovs that littered the Afghan nation for decades, Afghan products? Is Afghanistan the birth place of Ibn Wahab, or the home of the Deoband Madrassa?
The Afghans certainly are not blameless for the many ills that have befallen its nation. Foreign intrigue only works if it finds a willing and recipient subject, and Afghan history is replete with the power hungry, eager to sell out their nation for personal greed. But a far greater argument can be made that Afghanistan has been one of the greatest victims of foreign intrigue and interference, which makes Kay’s cowardly cop out all the more shameful.
Reflecting on how wrong the Kays and Worthington’s of this world were isn’t the ultimate issue. The objective moving forward, is to insist upon accountability from our politicians, media outlets and public figures. Billions of dollars in Canadian tax payer’s money and the lives of over 150 Canadians were sacrificed in this meaningless war, and those that beat the drums of war need to be held to account for their pandering, dishonesty and manipulation. It is absolutely inexcusable that after more than a decade, the pro war establishment can simply shrug its shoulders and tell us it tried, it failed, it meant well, and we should simply accept this as a fact of life.
Kay and his ilk may have lied to get us into this war, and to keep us there, but we owe it to the hundreds of dead Canadians and thousands of dead Afghans, to not let them lie to us on their way out.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...noble-failure/
The Great Cop Out
It only took 11 years, but the realization that the Afghan war is a disastrous failure has dawned upon politicians, academics and the media here in Canada. While a few former champions of the war have retained some dignity and have acknowledged the gross miscalculations, falsehoods and incorrect assumptions that underpinned the drive to war, we are now witnessing the shameful concluding act in this cursed play: the cop out.
Unable to comprehend or understand what went wrong, pundits and commentators have resorted to the tried and tested tactic of blaming others. This horrid excuse has taken many manifestations, depending on the audacity of the writer. It has ranged from absolving the West of all responsibility for this failure, to blaming Pakistan, and even the Afghans themselves.
The Toronto Sun’s Peter Worthington spoke in favour of the Afghan debacle for the better part of a decade, only to throw his hands in the air in frustration and blame Pakistan. His February 2012 article advocated for a reduction in US aid to the country.
One wonders why it took him a decade to realize the very basic geopolitical fact that Pakistan was allied with the Taliban. The fact that they were one of only three nations that recognized the Taliban regime, provided significant arms and funding, and even engaged in a massive airlift of Pakistani paramilitaries, soldiers and intelligence “assets” from Kunduz in late 2001, seems lost on him. Even the recommendation is generically tame. Cut funding? How about declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, the ISI a terrorist organization, and place sanctions and arms embargoes on the nation until we see a shift in policy? That wont happen any time soon, and so we’ll have to continue to make due with Uncle Sam’s wink wink nudge nudge relationship with the neo Mughal generals of the Land of the Pure.
It would be nice to see what Mr Worthington, having finally seen the light on Pakistan, thinks of a war effort predominately fought in rural Afghan villages, targeting front line Talibs who cant point out Islamabad on a map, let alone New York. I wont hold my breath for more of his up to speed analysis. Instead, we’ll settle for his July 2011 article where he essentially admits the war is and always was a lost cause, but hey at least it won our country respect in the world and gave the army “confidence”. I sincerely hope the families of a 150 plus dead Canadians and countless Afghans can rest easy tonight, knowing that the death of their loved ones made Canada less of an after thought in the corridors of power in Washington.
By far the greatest disgrace, not surprisingly, comes from the pages of the National Post, via Jonathan Kay. His February 2012 column decried Afghanistan as a “noble project that became a noble failure”. Predictably, he sets his sights first on the endemic corruption in Afghanistan. Having thrown in a little disclaimer about the role Western consultants and NGO’s have played in the corruption, he then turns to the Afghans, with his blood stained hands wagging condescendingly. Kay seems genuinely shocked that Afghans succumbed to the lure of corruption. The very idea that a devastated, impoverished nation emerging from 30 years of war would-in the complete absence of any meritocracy based government and lack of oversight of funds distribution- scramble to line its pockets, seems a very surprising development for Kay.
His article won’t talk about how before the war even began, the CIA paid out millions of dollars in bribes to war lords and tribal chieftains, or how the Americans allowed these same warlords to take the capital and establish itself as the new ruling class. Kay’s article certainly doesn’t mention that many of these warlords then integrated their militias into the fledgling Afghan security apparatus and the various private security firms that have blossomed in the country, securing millions in contracts.
So to recap, the West invaded Afghanistan, paid off warlords, bought the allegiance of all sorts of unscrupulous characters who were completely unaccountable, turned a blind eye to a booming drug trade, empowered criminals at all levels of government, creating a criminal “anything goes” culture, spent billions on a war effort, delivered aid with little to no oversight (and thats without mentioning the percentage of aid that left the country in the form of salaries or tax breaks), oversaw fraudulent elections and parliamentary proceedings making a mockery of democracy and human rights, continued to send billions in aid to the Pakistani military, and turned a blind eye to kickbacks to the Taliban.
But Afghanistan failed itself?
Kay’s reprehensible ignorance of Afghan history may be unsurprising but it doesn’t make it any less shameful. He trashes Afghanistan as an “impoverished landlocked backwater” and an “ancient basket case”, but provides absolutely no historical context, leaving the readers to conclude that this is how things are and always have been in Afghanistan. This in turn, makes it easier for the delusional and self righteous supporters of the Afghan war to conclude, as does Kay, that Afghanistan “failed itself”.
But perhaps Kay would care to explain to us, what was the Great Game? The 19th century geopolitical waltz in Central Asia between the Russians and the British, resulting in land annexations, invasions and encroachments that left Afghanistan the landlocked buffer state it is today, a rump state increasingly devoid of any logic or meaning to its creation. Im sure the political class of 19th century London found a way to blame the Afghans for that mess as well. And how about the 20th century Cold War, which barely left a single country on Earth untouched from its machinations and brutality?
Are Communism and Capitalism Afghan ideologies? The famed gun markets of Darra Adam Khel aside, were the tanks, air craft, stingers and Kalashnikovs that littered the Afghan nation for decades, Afghan products? Is Afghanistan the birth place of Ibn Wahab, or the home of the Deoband Madrassa?
The Afghans certainly are not blameless for the many ills that have befallen its nation. Foreign intrigue only works if it finds a willing and recipient subject, and Afghan history is replete with the power hungry, eager to sell out their nation for personal greed. But a far greater argument can be made that Afghanistan has been one of the greatest victims of foreign intrigue and interference, which makes Kay’s cowardly cop out all the more shameful.
Reflecting on how wrong the Kays and Worthington’s of this world were isn’t the ultimate issue. The objective moving forward, is to insist upon accountability from our politicians, media outlets and public figures. Billions of dollars in Canadian tax payer’s money and the lives of over 150 Canadians were sacrificed in this meaningless war, and those that beat the drums of war need to be held to account for their pandering, dishonesty and manipulation. It is absolutely inexcusable that after more than a decade, the pro war establishment can simply shrug its shoulders and tell us it tried, it failed, it meant well, and we should simply accept this as a fact of life.
Kay and his ilk may have lied to get us into this war, and to keep us there, but we owe it to the hundreds of dead Canadians and thousands of dead Afghans, to not let them lie to us on their way out.
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