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Return of the Taliban
June 29, 2006
In September 2004, President Bush proudly announced, "As a result of the United States military, [the] Taliban is no longer in existence." That claim was premature; the revived Taliban are waging a "full-blown insurgency," something that the White House now claims was "predictable." The former head of the Taliban government, Mullah Omar, remains free and purportedly released an audiotape claiming his fighters still controlled large parts of Afghanistan. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during a quick four-hour trip to Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, said “We are not going to tire, we are not going to leave.” But with the U.S.'s military and financial resources overwhelmingly dedicated to the ongoing war in Iraq, Afghanistan — the "launching pad" (PDF) for the 9/11 attacks — continues to receive insufficient resources and support.
- The situation in Afghanistan highlights our failures in the war on terror. According to a recent survey conducted by the Center for American Progress and Foreign Policy magazine of more than 100 highly respected foreign policy and national security experts, "a strong, bipartisan consensus emerged on two crucial points: 84 percent of the respondents said the United States was not winning the war on terror, and 86 percent said the world was becoming more — not less — dangerous for Americans." Interpreting the results, former CIA official Michael Scheuer said, "The war in Iraq broke our back in the war on terror. ... It has made everything more difficult and the threat more existential." It’s time for the United States to finish the work it started — to redeploy troops out of Iraq and begin the process of returning to Afghanistan to help bring about the changes that it started.
- The insurgency in Afghanistan is strengthening. "Violence has surged in Afghanistan this year to its worst level since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 for refusing to give up Osama bin Laden. More than 1,100 people, including nearly 50 foreign troops, have been killed." According to NBC, "U.S. officials say Taliban Islamist fighters, numbering in the thousands, now control at least a third of Afghanistan.” Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday, "We are seeing enemy forces now operate in formations of 40 to 50 fighters; they are demonstrating better command and control, and they are fighting hard."
- Conditions on the ground in Afghanistan are also ripe for the Taliban to strengthen. U.S. military spokesman Colonel Tom Collins said the Taliban "prey upon people who don't have a lot of hope. They recruit people to join their cause. These people may not believe much in the cause, but they need a job." By that standard, the conditions across the country are ripe for the Taliban, just as they were in the mid- to late-1990s when they first rose to power. Sayed Tamin, a 42-year-old tailor who lives in a working-class Kabul district, said, "In the past year, security has gotten worse and worse. ... The Taliban have been able to come back because the government is weak. There is corruption in high places and nothing for the poor. People are very, very disappointed."
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