As emphasized on this blog, a major problem in Afghanistan is that antidemocratic and fundamentalist groups have been empowered by the US/NATO and constitute the main players in today's Afghan government. For instance, in 2007 a law was passed by that parliament granting amnesty to all groups for war crimes they committed earlier. This makes explicit the intentions of the Afghan government, which basically voted immunity for itself, as numerous warlords and drug lords are members of it. See this article on the immunity for war crimes law, and this one from BBC.
A good solution to the Afghanistan problem would be to withdraw foreign troops and combine this with warlord disarmament and reconstruction aid, as advocated by Ingalls and Kolhatkar:
"As a first step, Americans of conscience ought to join activists in other NATO countries to call for an immediate end to Operation Enduring Freedom and a withdrawal of combat troops. Unfortunately a withdrawal of troops, while necessary, will not solve all the problems of the Afghan people. The immediate result will be a military power vacuum. Recall the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Soviet troops ended their occupation of Afghanistan. The power vacuum allowed U.S.-sponsored warlords to plunge the country into the worst violence in its recent history. If the power vacuum is filled by a UN-sponsored peacekeeping force to help the country transition toward stability, a repeat of that violence might be avoided. In tandem, it will be necessary to fully fund the social and economic programs that Afghans desire. Ideally, the money should be unconditional. And it should come from countries that have played the most destructive role in Afghanistan, such as the United States."
Here are some of Joya's and RAWA's statements:
-In an article entitled "The US and Her Fundamentalist Stooges arethe Main Human Rights Violators in Afghanistan", RAWA opposes all of the US/NATO, warlords and Taliban: "Instead of defeating Al-Qaeda, Taliban and Gulbuddini terrorists and disarming the Northern Alliance, the foreign troops are creating confusion among the people of the world. We believe that if these troops leave Afghanistan, our people will not feel any kind of vacuum but rather will become more free and come out of their current puzzlement and doubts. In such a situation, they will face the Taliban and Northern Alliance without their “national” mask, and rise to fight with these terrorist enemies. Neither the US nor any other power wants to release Afghan people from the fetters of the fundamentalists. Afghanistan’s freedom can be achieved by Afghan people themselves. Relying on one enemy to defeat another is a wrong policy which has just tightened the grip of the Northern Alliance and their masters on the neck of our nation."
It shows that it is important not to fall into the trap of supporting the Taliban (or the Iranian regime) because they happen to be fighting the US/NATO: they say we should not "keep silent about the wider, more devastating and more active meddling of the brutal Iranian regime in Afghanistan through its cultural and media agents. Pro-Iranian regime politicians and intellectuals are as much traitorous to democracy and human rights as the intellectuals and politicians who, from an ethnocentric and reactionary point of view, call the barbarism and terror of Taliban a “national armed resistance,” and shamelessly defend them." This statement can be found here.
-"Now we have two kinds of enemies, the warlords and the Taliban."; " My hope is that all democratic and freedom-loving people stand together to condemn all forms of fundamentalism and dictatorship." (Joya here)
-One of RAWA's slogan is "Neither the US nor Jehadis and Taliban, long live the struggle of independent and democratic forces of Afghanistan"; "Forgetting their foremost duty of giving awareness, a portion of the intellectuals of our country are engaged in shameful deeds of creating and igniting the ethnic, religious and linguistic differences among people on which the occupations are pouring fuel too. Some have taken this to such a level of disgrace that they believe the Taliban to be the rescuing forces; and the band of the murderers and agents of the “National Front”, and the groups attached to the US and NATO to be the sources of prosperity."
"RAWA strongly believes that there should be no expectation of either the US or any other country to present us with democracy, peace and prosperity. Our freedom is only achievable at the hands of our people. It is the duty of all the intellectuals, all the democratic forces and progressive and independence-seeking people to rise in a constant and decisive struggle for independence and democracy by taking the support of our wounded people as the independent force, against the presence of the US and its allies and the domination of Jehadi and Taliban criminals. Combating against the armed and alien forces in the country without being loud-mouthed against the Talibi and Jehadi enemies would mean welcoming the misfortunes of fascism and religious mafia. Also, struggling against this enemy without fighting the military presence of the US, its allies and its puppet government would mean falling before foreign agents. The path of the freedom-fighters of our country without doubt, will be very complex, difficult and bloody; but if our demand is to be freed from the chains of the slavery of foreigners and their Talib and Jehadi lackeys, we should not fear trial or death to become triumphant." (RAWA here)
-"The Afghan people today are sandwiched between the Northern Alliance government, which is made up of pro-U.S. terrorists and the Taliban, who are anti-U.S. terrorists; Afghans want to be ruled by neither. My main message to the Canadian people is to please support the democratic-minded people of Afghanistan and pressure your government to end its support for the fundamentalist Karzai regime, which is a photocopy of the Taliban... We don't just want the withdrawal of Canadian and other foreign troops from our country. We also want the fundamentalists of both the Northern Alliance and the Taliban to be deprived of their power and resources. The possibility of a civil war happening once foreign troops leave Afghanistan can be minimized by the international community pressuring Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and others who support either the Taliban or the Northern Alliance, not to do so."
"Q: Are there progressive forces in Afghanistan that could take over if the Taliban and the Northern Alliance were not there?
JOYA: Yes. We don't have only fundamentalists in Afghanistan; we also have a lot of democratic-minded people and parties. If I'm still alive today, it's because many, many people supported me and voted for me twice, in 2003 and 2005. Today, through OPAWC (Organization of Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities), the non-governmental organization of which I am Director, we are promoting the social advancement of women. We've had health and education initiatives since the Taliban period in 1998 and we are still working inside Afghanistan. HAWCA [Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan] is another democratic NGO which is very big. RAWA [Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan] is another women's political organization that's been fighting against fundamentalists in Afghanistan for more than 30 years. Their leader has been killed and the lives of their members are regularly threatened. We have democratic parties, as well, but they are very weak. They can't publish their magazines due to lack of money. I believe that, with the right kind of international solidarity, the Afghan people can defeat the warlords and drug lords ruining their country." (Joya here)
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