COUNTERING THE INSURGENCY IN AFGHANISTAN: LOSING FRIENDS AND MAKING ENEMIES
With a rapid rise in violent insurgency, southern Afghanistan is at tipping point, and the international community’s counter-insurgency strategy is in urgent need of reassessment.
The general Afghan population is feeling increasingly alienated from and hostile to the international community. The practice of counter-insurgency in Afghanistan has so far predominantly focused on military instruments to fight against the insurgency. By doing this, it has wrongfully left out all the non-military elements that form part of counter-insurgency strategy – for example, humanitarian aid, economic development, establishing health care and developing the education system. What Afghans in the south see instead in their daily lives are the military bombing campaigns, where bombs do not distinguish between innocent civilians and insurgents.
What is required is a frank reassessment of the realities of the current insurgency dynamic, the declining credibility of the international community and an acknowledgement of the legitimate grievances of the Afghan people. If properly applied, the non-military elements of classic counter-insurgency practice would immediately improve security and create more support for the Karzai government.
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WAR ZONE HOSPITALS IN AFGHANISTAN: A SYMBOL OF WILFUL NEGLECT
The war in Afghanistan is being unnecessarily prolonged, and even conceded, by the international community’s decision not to use obvious strategic instruments – such as the provision of effective assistance to injured and displaced civilian casualties – to build trust and win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. The international community’s military actions, particularly its bombing campaigns, are causing injury and death to innocent Afghan civilians. These attacks are making the situation worse for local Afghans, not better, provoking anger and frustration, and providing the perfect conditions for insurgents to gain support.
However, the hospitals in Kandahar and Helmand are dilapidated, barren and filthy. The current situation of medical care in southern Afghanistan symbolises to Afghan the international community’s wilful neglect to support and partner the Afghan people in the meeting of vital health needs.
In fact, just a fraction of the money spent on military activities in Afghanistan could significantly improve the quality of Afghans people’s lives, through the introduction of simple, inexpensive, low-technology health and infrastructure. The provision of healthcare is particularly important for those civilians injured by the international community’s war actions.
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