As another Australian soldier is killed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, our media rarely asks the key question: what is the West doing there and is the situation improving? In fact, it is getting worse and the increasing number of civilians killed by “our” forces is causing extremism to breed. The Taliban can undoubtedly be blamed for some of these deaths, but so are NATO troops. Children are suffering more than most.
Lord Ashdown, the former United Nations High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, says:
“I believe losing in Afghanistan is worse than losing in Iraq. It will mean that Pakistan will fall and it will have serious implications internally for the security of our own countries and will instigate a wider Shiite [Shia], Sunni regional war on a grand scale. Some people refer to the First and Second World Wars as European civil wars and I think a similar regional civil war could be initiated by this [failure] to match this magnitude.”
I have never supported the war against Afghanistan. After nearly six years, what has been achieved? Very little. A puppet, US-backed government remains in Kabul and controls none of the country. War lords have been installed throughout the provinces. Leaders of al-Qaeda remain at large. Growing numbers of civilians are being killed by Western forces. Opium production is at record levels.
Isn’t victory sweet?