Double blow in Afghanistan
The death of an Australian commando in fighting against Taliban forces in Afghanistan, and on the same day a brazen assassination attempt against the country’s President, Hamid Karzai, during a military parade in the capital, Kabul, were shocking reminders of the peril inherent in Australia’s commitment there. To his credit, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was commendably frank in describing the situation as grim, and warning that the year ahead will be “difficult and dangerous and bloody”, with more Australian casualties very likely.
But being honest about the immediate security prospects is not enough. If the toll of dead and wounded does indeed mount, a restive public will increasingly ask other, more basic questions. Such as: what are we hoping to achieve there?, what are the benchmarks, military, and political, by which we will know whether we are succeeding, or that it is time to bring our troops home? True, Afghanistan is a quite different proposition to Iraq. The military intervention in Afghanistan had, and still has, bipartisan support within Australia, and was carried out with United Nations approval and international support. The justification was clear cut: the defeat of a fanatical Taliban regime that had allowed its territory to become the training and launching pad for international terrorism.
Yet the questions remain, gaining new urgency from recent events. Apart from the apparent lack of strategic focus and effective international coordination and load sharing, there is the burgeoning opium trade. How are the allies to win the hearts and minds of desperately poor Afghan farmers while seeking to destroy their principal cash crop? And what’s to be done about Pakistan, with its porous borders, deeply suspect Inter-Services Intelligence organisation and radical Islamic schools that serve as recruiting grounds for the Taliban and al-Qaeda? All in all, Mr. Rudd is wise to insist Australia’s contribution is not a blank cheque.
Source: Double Blow in Afghanistan, editorial page, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 April 2008
