Despite what its chiefs may say, the UN’s decision to move 600 of its staff out of Afghanistan is strongly reminiscent of the way it decamped from Iraq after the lethal bombing of its Baghdad headquarters in August 2003. Now, as then, this is a victory for the men of violence.
Last week’s cold-blooded murder of eight people including five UN officials at a Kabul compound may not have been as deadly as the Baghdad blast which slew 22, but the outrage at the attack is no less real.
Despite American attempts to dominate its agenda, not least when repeatedly sheltering Israel from international condemnation, the UN is a blameless organization. Its presence in Afghanistan is evidence of the world’s desire to help the conflict-torn country to return to stability and embark on a new level of prosperity. However, in the eyes of the Taleban gunmen, UN personnel are just another group of foreigners whom they do not want in their country any more than the NATO troops. They appear to understand nothing of the good that UN workers are trying to do for all Afghans, including them.
In this respect maybe the UN should share some of the blame. At the field level, most locals very probably appreciate what UN staff such as doctors, engineers and agriculturalists are trying to achieve for Afghanistan. But at senior level, the organization would seem to have failed to explain its mission to ordinary people, failed to get over the message that the UN effort is not part of the problem, but actually part of the solution. Inevitably, it has become identified with the NATO forces and with the government through whom rightly it must work.
This does represent a difficulty that is not unique to Afghanistan or indeed to Iraq, to which the UN has now returned. The UN is all too often seen as a political rather than a humanitarian and peace organization — an organization that tries to provide a semblance of legitimacy to wars and occupation. The blue berets of the UN troops who guard many missions do not disguise the reality that they are still soldiers. Even so, the organization often tries to defuse suspicions by assigning forces from countries with no political ax to grind — the mission in Iraq for instance is currently protected by a Fijian unit.
Unfortunately all too often the UN behaves reactively. It has neither the budget nor the resources to be proactive in all but a few established areas such as UNESCO, health and agriculture. Thus when the UN mobilizes in the face of a challenge such as Afghanistan, it is generally in response to pressure from the powerful permanent members of the Security Council. Small wonder then that the UN can be seen as an interfering instrument of alien powers.
Therefore while the “temporary” withdrawal of around half its international staff from Afghanistan is understandable, it is probably a mistake. It makes the UN seem like an enemy who has been made to retreat, not the international hand of friendship that it really is. These people should go back as soon as possible.
