[R-G] Time to quit Afghanistan

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/eric_margolis/2009/03/15/8753311-sun.html

Comment Columnists / Eric Margolis
Time to quit Afghanistan

PM acknowledges a war can't be won, so what are Canadian troops still  
doing there?

By ERIC MARGOLIS

Last Updated: 15th March 2009, 5:25am

It's taken far too long for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to finally  
admit the war in Afghanistan cannot be won. Better late than never.  
Kudos to Harper for facing facts and telling Canadians the truth.

If the war can't be won, why risk lives of Canadian troops for  
nothing? Why stay in harm's way a day longer when the writing is on  
the wall in Afghanistan? President Barack Obama, who is sending 30,000  
more troops to Afghanistan, ought to be asking himself the same  
questions.

We must think hard about waging an increasingly bloody war against  
lightly-armed mountain tribesmen who face the 24/7 lethal fury of the  
U.S. air force's heavy bombers, strike aircraft, helicopter and AC-130  
Spectre gunships, killer drones and heavy artillery. Do we really want  
a test of wills against men who have the courage to endure cluster  
bombs with thousands of sharp fragments, white phosphorus that burns  
through flesh to the bone, fuel/air explosives that burst the lungs  
and tear apart bodies? Will Canada's use of Soviet helicopters and  
Israeli drones win Afghan hearts and minds?

Our propaganda brands these Pashtun tribesmen as "Taliban terrorists."  
They call themselves warriors fighting occupation by the western  
powers and their local Communist, Tajik and Uzbek allies.

Al-Qaida's few hundred members long ago vanished.

Fatuous claims we occupy Afghanistan to protect women are belied by  
the continued plight of Afghan females under western rule. A British  
report just concluded 100,000 Indian women are burned alive each year  
for their dowries. Will we now send troops to India?

Only the first step

Admitting the U.S. and NATO cannot bludgeon the Afghan resistance into  
submission is only the first step. If the war can't be won, then  
Canadian soldiers should remain in their bases, stop aggressive  
patrolling and cease attacks on Taliban supporters and civilians.  
Other NATO members are doing so.

The next step is to understand that wars are waged for political  
objectives, not simply to kill your enemies.

The U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan have no coherent political  
objectives. The U.S.-installed Karzai regime in Kabul has no political  
legitimacy and commands no respect or loyalty. It is engulfed by  
corruption and massive drug dealing. The Obama administration is  
casting about for a new puppet, but so far can't find one who could do  
any better than poor Karzai. You can't make a puppet into a real  
national leader.

Worse, as Kabul flounders and the Taliban and its allies are on the  
offensive, events in neighbouring Pakistan are going from awful to  
calamitous. The West cannot wage war in Afghanistan without the  
support of Pakistan's army, air bases, intelligence service and  
logistical infrastructure. That means keeping a government in power in  
Islamabad responsive to U.S. demands and that will continue renting  
its army to Washington.

But Pakistan is in political chaos. After easing former discredited  
dictator Pervez Musharraf out of power, Washington eased into power  
Pakistan People's Party leader, Asif Ali Zardari, widower of Benazir  
Bhutto. His popularity ratings are rock bottom.

Zardari recently got his stooges on the corrupt Supreme Court to ban  
Pakistan's most popular democratic opposition leader, Pakistan Muslim  
League chief Nawaz Sharif, from running for office. Nawaz's brother,  
Shabaz, also was judicially deposed as minister of Punjab, Pakistan's  
largest state.

Violent demonstrations against Zardari's dictatorial ploy are shaking  
Pakistan. It would be surprising if the unpopular Zardari, who is  
dogged by grave corruption charges, manages to cling to power. But  
Nawaz also has plenty of skeletons in his closets. The army --  
Pakistan's other government -- is watching the nation's descent into  
bankruptcy and political chaos with mounting concern.

The military fortunes of the U.S. and NATO in South Asia thus rest on  
political quicksand in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Plans by the  
U.S. to arm tribes on Pakistan's North-West Frontier are sure to bring  
even more violence and chaos.

NATO, which has no strategic interest in the region, would be wise to  
get its troops out of this boiling mess.

eric.margolis at sunmedia.ca