U.S. Troops Incur Afghan Wrath

U.S. soldiers make mistake after mistake, killing civilians and creating a situation where they will end up running, not walking out of Afghanistan, a country that they invaded in 2001 with the aim of removing the Taliban from the government.

About a week ago, the ire of Afghans was highly aroused when, in the early hours, a slaughter occurred in Kandahar, during which 16 civilians died, among them women and children. The deed, attributed to American Sergeant Robert Bales, caused a commotion within the local community and augmented tensions between the US and Afghanistan.

In early January, a video was released in which four American marines were shown urinating on the bodies on three Afghans. In February, five soldiers burned copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and now, in March, an American soldier went from house to house and killed 16 people, whom he later sprayed with gasoline and set ablaze.

In 2010, five American soldiers killed three civilians and took pictures of themselves with the corpses as if they were trophies. Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, who organized the slaughter, was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in November 2011.

On February 10, US Marines faced a new controversy after a photograph of soldiers in Afghanistan posing in front of [what appeared to be] a Nazi S.S. flag surfaced on the internet.

These acts revived the growing anti-American sentiment rife in Afghanistan, at a time when the United States seeks a framework of strategic collaboration with Kabul to facilitate the withdrawal of North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in 2014.

In 11 years of war, the US and its allies have not been able to consolidate a Western-type democracy to quell Taliban warfare tactics, which are supported by the terrorist group al-Qaeda. The war rages on with support from a good majority of the population.

The insurgency has been helped along by these recent incidents through which, owing to procedural errors or insubordination, soldiers from the United States have provoked the ire of the civilian population.

The Taliban promises vengeance and hopes that Sunday’s killings, coupled with the burning of copies of the Quran, will help them recruit supporters.

This and a much more engendered sense of unease in many Afghans, especially the Taliban rebels who have responded with deadly attacks against American bases and Afghan authorities who support the United States.

Unpopular War

US and Western allies’ strategy to bring an end to the hostilities by 2014 is at risk. In Kabul, in Washington and throughout the capitals of Europe, voices questioning the necessity of this war are multiplying.

US authorities are making efforts to limit the damage caused by allied forces since the Afghan war started in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Daoud Sultanzoy, a Pashtun politician from the Afghan province of Ghazni says the “the only good thing that can happen… from this disaster is for the United States to show to the people of this country that justice is swift, justice is immediate…. There should be a decisive and severe punishment.”

In a communiqué, President Barack Obama stated “This incident is tragic and shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan.”

In Kabul, President Hamid Karzai stated “When Afghan people are killed deliberately by U.S. forces this action is murder and terror and an unforgivable action.”

Republican former presidential candidate John McCain said if the situation in Afghanistan is allowed to dissolve into chaos or if the Taliban takes control again, the country could “easily” become an al-Qaida base of attack.

Faced with a growing resentment in the hearts of the Afghan people, South Asia adviser at the United States Institute of Peace Moeed Yusuf fears that the international strategy still runs the risk of running into a wall.

The recent events in Afghanistan fuel the debate over the need to accelerate the withdrawal, not only of American troops but also of those in the other countries within the coalition whose goal it is to maintain political stability in that country.

Withdrawal Preferred

Sixty percent of Americans think that the war in Afghanistan was not necessary, and roughly the same percentage ask for a quick withdrawal, according to a new survey conducted by “ABC News” and “The Washington Post.”

There are some 130,000 NATO soldiers currently in Afghanistan, of which 100,000 are Americans. The Atlantic Alliance strategy planned to train the Afghan military and police, at the end of which the two entities would assume responsibility for the security of their territories from that point through the end of 2014, which would in turn facilitate the withdrawal of the coalition soldiers.

Although the U.S. asserts that everything is on course in Afghanistan, its military campaign experienced two devastating blows this week when Taliban rebels broke off peace negotiations and President Hamid Karzai demanded the immediate withdrawal of NATO troops from rural regions.