I don’t approve of any foreign country occupying another sovereign country for any reason. However, I shudder to think what will happen to Afghanistan when the 135,000 foreign troops get the marching order by 2015. I totally agree with the views expressed in the well written editorial “A last chance to get real.” The International Crisis Group (ICG) thinks that the Afghan police and army are unprepared for security responsibility.
Although Afghan government has rubbished this view by saying that their nation was not born in 2002, I have our own reservations about what is to come when the NATO troops leave. The government claims that they have a history of 5,000 years and they have fought against superpowers in the past. Despite the credentials the government claims what really worries everyone is that there has been no peace right along its history. Ethnic differences have always caused bloodshed in this unfortunate country.
If the NATO could not build a dependable security force for the last 10 years or more how can it succeed within next two years, before it packs up? President Karzai, who is serving his last term in office, must be desperately looking for a favored candidate to take over from him. It is expected that polls in two years’ time would be plagued by massive fraud, as it is already happening on a minor scale, with foreign observer presence. We agree with your editorial when you say that Afghanistan is too disparate with ethnic Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara regions.
The ethnic rivalry among the tribes is so fierce and one wonders what will be in store for that country after 2015, whatever the 5,000 year history the present government is boasting about! We are so sad that the people of this country have not seen anything other than war. It is our sincere prayers that peace and harmony should prevail in this unfortunate country. — S.H. Moulana, Riyadh
