Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been doing a lot of peace efforts, and needs urgent support for his May 2, 2010, peace gathering, or jirga. Karzai actually met with the local elders in Kandahar and agreed to stop the latest offensive, the US trying to get around it with a slow buildup,
http://www.sananews.net/english/2010/04/01/insurgents-welcome-at-afghan-peace-jirga-in-may/
Somehow circumstances made it hard to honor his many peace efforts. When the Soviets left Afghanistan the world didn’t want to admit that a bloodbath was taking place over rebels fighting over who was in charge, thus Karzai’s peace efforts were ignored. He was arrested in 1994 while trying to mediate a cease-fire. Unfortunately instead of Karzai a peacemaker, one has to google "CIA prisoner believed to have rescued Karzai" for the details. His many calls to the Taliban for peace negotiations were usually met with "We won’t negotiate with a traitor" so praising these efforts would convey the idea that the Taliban didn’t want peace, something peace activists would not want to do. Finally the top Taliban supporting warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar agreed to comprehensive peace negotiations. Most would prefer that Mullah Omar would be in charge of power sharing. Mullah Omar refused to unequivocally denounce and agree to never to harbor al Qaeda like Hekmatyar agreed to, which is a key US demand and a key Saudi demand, Saudi Arabia somehow involved. Omar has spoke up against al Qaeda tactics with his strict code of ethics, (Google Taliban code of ethics with the NY Times), but Omar won’t specifically denounce bin Laden fearing an attack on shopping bazaars and mosques by al Qaeda getting even, like they are doing in Iraq with the on-going attacks against those Sunnis who ending up changing sides and joined with the Americans. Mullah Omar has been so careful to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties that when the central Afghan bank was failed to be penetrated, the suicide-vested bombers didn’t blow up on the crowded street, instead retreated to the shopping bazaar complex next door, and ordered everyone out instead of shooting at shoppers, holing up for hours, google it with the NY Times for some reluctant praise.
In 2007 Hamid Karzai first urged that the US avoid civilian casualties,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202757.html?hpid=sec-world
General McChrystal is bragging about less civilian casualties, Hamid Karzai and Mullah Omar are on the same wavelength. The US troops would be more brutal if while wandering around they would be snipped at instead of only in the heat of battle, or while chasing the Taliban.
The US peace movement is fixated on Vietnam War history comparing Karzai with Diem, read their biographies in Wikipedia for their vast differences. Karzai married a women working with Afghan refuges, and definitely doesn’t treat her like a slave. Ngo Dinh Diem represented the small Vietnamese Catholic community, while Karzai represented those who wanted the king to return, the largest anti-Taliban group. Diem wanted to fight with Ho Chi Minh opposing Ho’s Marxist atheism, but ended up attacking Buddhists as well. Karzai preferred to compromise not fight ever since the Russians left. Diem more brutal, not less brutal than his US supporters. Karzai’s recent attempts to compromise a little, with Taliban ethics, is in pursuit of peace. Karzai’s father and one brother was killed by the Taliban for supporting the idea of the king returning. He has as much reason to be full of hate as other Afghans instead he is a sea of if not
Incidentally I won’t let pass, the accusation that Karzai’s brother is an evil drug dealing warlord. Karzai rented property to the CIA and then paid the local Taliban not to attack it, paid them not to attack polling places in the last election etc. Basically the US poured money at him, which he partly gave to the local Taliban to not attack. How drugs fit into the picture I don’t know but we can all see what happens such as in Mexico when no one is throwing money around urging dealers and the police to be less violent, with themselves and each other.
Incidentally I left out how both India and Pakistan both want peace and get in the way of peace while they squabble over whether Afghanistan should be partial to India or Pakistan. However trying to avoid destructive gossip is why other peace sites end up avoiding talking about Hamid Karzai’s peace efforts,
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60P14Z?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel
If President Obama listened to the shill parts of the peace movement and just left, and infighting over who was in charge shattered the relative peace civilians are now experiencing with Omar, McChrystal, and Karzai avoiding mayhem, it will be bad news indeed. If the peace movements would help Karzai make peace, it might get Obama back on track of working for a more peaceful world for us all.
Please google, "Western Peace Activists Ignore Real Afghan Peace Efforts"and click on,
readersupportednews.org/godot-recent
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/21-war/1473-peace-movement-betrays-afghan-president-karzai
By Richard Kane, RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
Friday, April 16, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Afghan peace conference delayed to the end of May
ReplyDeletewww.france24.com/en/20100421-afghanistan-peace-jirga-delayed-until-end-may
Anyone have details on helping Afghan peace efforts. I left out in my article, above, that Hamid Karzai also went to China asking help with peace efforts.
Many think setting a date for funds cut off is the best way to encourage peace. But this is not how past wars ended. During the Vietnam War Congress quietly avoided any more war supplemental funding which likely made the war end sooner. But had Senator Fulbright bragged about not voting for supplemental funding, the war may have ended later not sooner.
There are sticky issues like what to do to help Afghans who turned in the names of others. It’s possible Iran might take refugees in. For a price, Kyrgyzstan may take some in. But this a matter of negotiations not setting an end date. Maybe a looming end date could pressure Obama to offer more in negotiations. But it’s all guess work.