Ninth Anniversary of US Afghan War
By Riaz Haq
CA
October 7 marks the 9th anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan, making it the longest war in US history.
What began as a US-Saudi-Pakistani sponsored anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and led to the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, 2001, is now threatening to engulf Africa, Central Asia, Middle East and South Asia in its growing flames. And its effects are continuing to be strongly felt in America and Europe.
The victorious veterans of the 1980s Afghan resistance have successfully indoctrinated and trained several generations of battle-hardened global jihadis to take on the United States and various pro-Western governments in Islamic nations in all parts of the world. This trend is accelerating as the US steps up its attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a recent report in Newsweek magazine. Here is an excerpt from its report:
"The Central Asians retreated to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the late 1990s after failing to topple their home governments. Now they seem ready to try again, using guerrilla tactics and know-how they’ve picked up from the Taliban about improvised explosive devices. Small groups of Tajik and Uzbek militants began moving into Tajikistan in late winter 2009, says a Taliban subcommander in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz. In Kunduz they joined up with fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a Qaeda-linked group active there and in Tajikistan. “Once these first groups made it back safely [to Tajikistan], they signaled to militants here in Kunduz and even in Pakistan’s tribal areas that the journey was possible,” the subcommander, who didn’t want to be named for security reasons, tells Newsweek."
As the Central Asian fighters return to their home countries, there have also been similar reports of Arab jihadis moving into the Arabian peninsula, particularly Yemen. The American-born radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki is reportedly in Yemen, encouraging young Muslims to participate in global jihad against the West. Al-Awlaki is said to be linked to US Army Major Nidal Hasan, accused of murdering colleagues in shootings at Fort Hood.
In the past two years Al Qaida has established a local franchise in Yemen, Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has claimed responsibility for audacious attacks – including the failed Christmas Day 2009 airplane bombing attempt in Detroit, Michigan, and an attempt to kill the British Ambassador in Yemen earlier in 2010.
Beyond the Arabian peninsula, there are concerns about the rising Al Qaeda influence in the Horn of Africa. The head of Somalia's weakened transitional government, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has recently accused Islamist insurgents of seeking to turn the war-stricken country into a base for Al Qaeda to bring terror to the Horn of Africa.
Even as the foreign fighters leave the Afghan battle field to return for jihad in their home countries, the loss of troop strength for the Taliban is more than offset by a rush of young Afghans joining up, according to the Newsweek story. An Afghan government official in Kunduz’s Emam Sahib district told Newsweek that the insurgents now have near-total control of the province’s northern frontier.
Recognizing the expanding threat of global Jihad, the US Central Command has responded by setting up "Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force" which is charged with planning and conducting secret military operations in geographies under US CentCom. The main advantage of clandestine activity by special ops personnel is that it does not require the president’s approval or regular reports to Congress. This makes it easier to hide the operations from the public and provides plausible deniability to the President even if he gave the orders for operations. According to a New York Times report, “Special operations troops have already been sent into a number of countries to carry out reconnaissance missions, including operations to gather intelligence about airstrips and bridges.”
Unfortunately emphasis on armed warfare, open or secret, is no substitute for the use of soft power aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the populations at large. Rather than help to achieve peace and stability, the secret wars fuel further resentment, and often become counterproductive in defeating the extremists.
It is important for the United States to go beyond the rhetoric about winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims. It is now time to step up its public diplomacy along with necessary foreign policy changes and a sincere charm offensive to try and win the hearts and minds of the common people in the Islamic world. Only then can the Islamic militants be isolated, marginalized, and, eventually, defeated.
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