Wajeeha Bilal
Military solutions and foreign interventions have never fixed political and
societal problems. In occupied countries many peopleprefer their own rulersover
foreigners as a means to preserving their freedom, culture and identity. Sirin
Ebadi, a Nobel prize winning human rights activist, argues against western
intervention. She implies that despite a regime’s poor human rights record,
gender discrimination and lack of democracy, any involvement by foreign powers
would be undesirable and unhelpful. It would simply make matters worse. Instead,
she insists that change must come from within, and points to the relatively
strong women’s movement in Iran compared with other Islamic states.
The recent results of foreign invasions are a proof of their failure in building
trustworthy institutions through outside interventions. Both in Iraq and
Afghanistan, the main aim was on engaging and training people and not on
constructing strong, loyal organizations. As the people were trained by
international forces to fight their own, corruption and exploitation
prevaileddue to the lack of trust, purpose and identity. Lack of moral and
crisis of identity was strong enough to convince everyone to give up once the
decision of withdrawal had been made.
One thing that has been common in all the recent global invasions and their
military trainings is a deep-rooted sense of instability, as a consequence of
their downfall. America had faced great disgrace in Vietnam many years ago
followed by other military blunders that it had staged since then, and as a
result Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, among others have suffered the consequences.The
countries, their people and the neighboring states have been made to suffer for
superpower’s follies. Always presuming that it will be better than before,
foreign powers have not been able to derive a lesson from their mistakes. The
scale of tragedy has worsened every time.
Now after spending two decades and more than trillion dollars, the US abandoned
Afghanistan just to be handed over to the very people it had resisted in the
first place. In a matter of days the Taliban retook a country, loaded with
American weapons, corrupted with traitors, and filled with unsafe individuals. A
professional soldier’s potential is not just physical ability, but mental
conditioning and discipline and most importantly his sense of loyalty. In the
Ottoman Empire, the most elite and admired unit, theJanissaries were the private
army of the Sultan. Well trained, lavishly dressed and of iron discipline. They
were mostly converts who were often members of the Bektaşi order. A
Janissary’spower was not just in his physical strength but also in keeping
ranks, following orders, and standing against all odds. It was about fencing
skills, following discipline, and staying faithful to the empire. A strong
faithful unit was set as a basis for the loyalty of the Janissaries who led the
Turks to many victories including that of Constantinople’s. The Turks made a
loyal, disciplined and highly trained unit that set an example across the world.
A preference was laid over loyalty before their training to compose a strong
unit of army for the empire.
The Afghans who had been fighting one another, their neighbors and the Soviets
for centuries are born in a fighting zone. But the US had always declared that
its mission in Afghanistan was to train the Afghans to fight for their country.
It seems apparent now that it was not about training the people but more about
making the superpower image look good through media. The US intended on showing
an ideal liberal platform and funded the free media projects that appeal to the
audience who hold their campaigns. These ideas are a means of manipulating one’s
way to sustaining the superpower image and having leverage over any country
through its aid. The resulting trained army and government lacked trust, loyalty
and stronger will for their nationalism.
Nowadays every country and their media stand in a fight against terrorism and
its effects. The focus of every news and their analysis is on finding a solution
to extremism and on building a more peaceful world. Studies have shown that the
use of military force by foreign powers to subjugate or reform societies serves
only to promote a larger number of suicide terrorists than would otherwise be
the case.The birth of terror organisations like the Islamic State and al-Qaeda
are byproducts of foreign invasion policies.Robert A. Pape, a professor of
political science at the University of Chicago specializing in international
security affairs, had compiled evidence to suggest that suicide terrorismis in
fact a secular tactic rather than a religious one, and forms part of a broader
campaign to remove an occupying force from the area perceived by the
perpetrators to be their homeland. Pape’s research found that every terrorist
campaign and more than 95 percent of all suicide bombings had the objective of
national liberation at their heart. He argues that suicide terrorism is not the
result of an existing supply of fanatics but is a demand-driven phenomenon. And
thanks to the failed interventions by more powerful countries who focus on their
leverage rather than strengthening the local governments, it is a rising
concern.
The global power politics has left Afghanistan and its people at a major
humanitarian crisis. While the rest of the world needs to find a way to interact
with them on fighting terrorism and acknowledging human rights,the best that can
be wished for the sake of humanity is that the new Taliban government is more
rational, with a realization for global recognition and aid. Matters cannot be
made worse by blocking or discontinuing foreign aids just because there is no
leverage through foreign intervention. Whether the Taliban swept an easy
takeover due to the lack of morale or loyalty, any American or western sanctions
will only prove counterproductive for the humanity and world peace. Supporting
local governments for the sake of their people to avoid uprisings and regional
chaos is one hope for humanity and global peace.