By Asger Strodl
Afghanistan has been at war with itself for over six years now. The internal conflict has destroyed much of what was left after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
More than a million civilians have been killed since 1978. More than 5 million people are refugees, and many children have been disabled by some of the 10 million mines littering the country. Diseases like tuberculosis that were almost unknown before the war have become widespread.
Human rights abuses during the Soviet occupation almost seem trivial compared to the abuses suffered at the hands of armed countrymen. All armed factions are guilty of rape, extrajudicial killings and torture.
The appearance of the Taliban in the war in 1994 was initially praised by the US as a stabilising force. However, the true nature of Taliban barbarism has been revealed by increased attention since the fall of Kabul. Medieval lifestyles are enforced on a society which has never had such "Islamic" laws.
The main difference of the Taliban from the others is their systematic cruelty. Two days after they entered Kabul, a little boy was paraded and beaten through the streets with cigarette burns all over his body and money stuffed up his nose, in his mouth and ears. His hands were then publicly removed. Apparently he stole some metal sheets from a destroyed house.
General Masood has accused Pakistan of "masterminding the creation of the Taliban" and has said the US has been promoting them, but does not control them. Pakistan has always denied this allegation, but there is no doubt about Pakistan's role.
Pakistani troops have been identified fighting with Taliban troops by independent aid workers. Pakistan has been rebuilding infrastructure in Afghanistan, including a new highway from Pakistan to Kandahar and Herat, but only in Taliban-controlled areas. In recent fighting north of Kabul, Masood captured Pakistani troops who have been interviewed by Western media.
Pakistan has given the Taliban weapons, fuel and technical help to maintain equipment. There is close interaction between the Taliban and the Pakistani Intelligence Service (ISI), especially for heroin distribution. Afghanistan now produces $80 billion of opium, which the ISI distributes.
The ISI worked extremely closely with the CIA during the Soviet occupation. Together they channelled over $320 million of weapons to Mujahadin factions in covert operations. The US involvement in the area did not end with the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
Peace aborted
Najibullah, the fourth president of the Afghan communist party, had negotiated the Soviet withdrawal in 1988 with Gorbachev. Following the withdrawal, he offered the Mujahadin the opportunity to make peace and participate in elections. Local support for the Mujahadin was strong at that time, and an election victory for the Mujahadin would have been easy.
However, the US and Pakistan continued to send weapons into Afghanistan and encouraged the Mujahadin to continuing fighting, promising them support. The fighting continued, Najibullah lost Kabul in 1992, and Rabbani became president.
The US relationship with the Mujahadin has since cooled off, leading to claims they had switched support to the Taliban. But their relation with the Taliban is unclear.
The Taliban were created when Mullah Mohammed Omar crossed the border to Pakistan and began recruiting members from refugee camps. He was a leader of a Mujahadin faction that had failed to gain any political power in Afghanistan. He came to Pakistan in June 1994 and sought out contacts in the ISI to help him build a militia.
Radical and illiterate Pashtuns were recruited from refugee camps and sent to religious schools funded by religious political parties. The ISI provided weapons, training and troops, and by November of that year, the Taliban had control over the major southern city of Kandahar.
Pakistan has a lot to gain by supporting and controlling the Taliban. About a third of its territory is Pashtunistan, an area that used to be part of Afghanistan before the British took it. Najibullah had been stirring up the issue when the Soviets left. Perpetuating disunity helps take the heat out of the issue.
Also, Pakistan has had ambitions of access to central Asian trade, including cheap oil and gas. There have been proposals for a pipeline around for a while, and the Taliban created the best opportunity for realising this. Pakistan's ex-foreign minister Assef Ali went to Turkmenistan in March to discuss the building of such a pipeline through Afghanistan.
Pakistan receives a massive amount of money from the UN to support the Afghan refugees. However, little of the money is spent on the refugees. They are not given any food or medicine, but have to buy it themselves. Free housing is not given either. There are no schools or other services provided by the Pakistani government, including medical services. Afghani refugees have no rights and are totally exploited.
US influence
Officially the US ended aid to Rabbani in 1994, including military aid. However, the CIA office in Peshawar that was created to fight the Soviets is still in operation. The US has admitted to having contact with the Taliban over the two years of its existence, and there have been claims been that the US is actively involved, as well as claims that the US wants a piece of the pipeline. However, no evidence has so far come to light of direct US involvement.
However, indirectly the US has influence. The close activities of the ISI and the CIA would mean the US had full knowledge of what Pakistan was up to. No protests were made by Washington; instead, initially the Taliban were portrayed in a positive manner.
President Rabbani had been a leader of the Mujahadin, and had close contacts with the US. He had felt betrayed by the US when they removed support for him after he had done his job against the Soviets and the Communists.
Rabbani then turned to Iran and Russia for support. Relations with Iran become close, and they signed treaties creating a common market between Iran and Afghanistan. This opened up the desperately needed opportunity for Iran to create extra trade, as its economy has been weakened by the US trade embargo. Iran could export dates, clothes, plastics and natural gas to Afghanistan without tariffs. Iran has also been extending its trade into central Asia.
The US did not actively participate in creating the Taliban, but as General Masood said, it saw a few advantages in promoting them, and allowing Pakistan to continue with its subtle invasion. The Taliban are not particularly pro-US, but they are totally anti-Iranian, which serves its purpose.
The US used Afghanistan as a tool to fight the USSR, and now does nothing to clean up after itself. Most of the weapons used in fighting today came from the US. No attempt was made to establish peace once US objectives had been reached. Iran has accused the US of actively sabotaging the peace process.
However the parties directly involved have made steps towards peace. Iran has negotiated to hold talks with Pakistan and the Taliban, and General Dostom has had talks with Pakistan about a cease-fire. The removal of Benazir Bhutto's government has not greatly affected the peace process in the area, except to put direct negotiations with Iran and Pakistan/Taliban on hold.
Peace talks can not be effective until Pakistan withdraws completely out of Afghanistan. No Afghan party will respect a treaty with a puppet force. Masood had said that he will share government with the Taliban if they can show they are operating independently of Pakistan.