AFGHANISTAN: Afghan observer says foreign forces should change strategy or risk losing war
Posted by warvictims on July 17, 2008
By BBC Monitoring
[Presenter] For the first time Afghan President Hamed Karzai has lodged a strong protest against the foreign forces for civilian casualties and called the killing of civilians a big disaster for the government of Afghanistan. According to a report by Press TV, President Karzai denounced the killing of civilians in NATO air raids and called on NATO to exercise caution during the military operations, mainly the air operations in Afghanistan. The president also criticized the foreign troops for their negligence in launching and coordinating their operations. Karzai said that he made all possible efforts to end or at least minimize any damage to civilians during the operations by the foreign troops. But unfortunately, the efforts did not yield results because NATO and the US troops did not take such issues seriously.
This is the first that time President Karzai is using the word disaster for the killing of civilians in NATO air strikes. Afghan government officials, including the president, many times criticized the foreign forces for paying no attention to their recommendations but NATO, mainly the US officials, want to continue their own style in fighting terrorism. My colleague has arranged an interview with Mr Wahid Mozhda who hails the recent remarks by the president but says the foreign forces do not pay attention to the recommendations of the Afghan government.
[Observer] You are well-aware that there has been a rise in casualties of the foreign forces in Afghanistan. The foreign forces usually launch air strikes in retaliation for a Taleban ambush which kills their troops. They try to repress the Taleban through air strikes in the villages or areas where civilians are residing. The civilians most of the time become vulnerable to these attacks and the Taleban usually do not sustain big casualties.
I think the time has come for the foreign forces to change their policy. The way they are continuing the war, they will definitely lose it. Now even the president is fed up with all this. I appreciate the recent remarks by the president and of course this is not the first time that the president has criticized the foreign forces for their attack. Even some time ago, he [the president] appeared on TV with strong criticism against the foreign forces and clearly said that the foreign troops do not pay respect to the demands of the government of Afghanistan. It is a fact that the foreign forces in Afghanistan follow their own mandates and policies. They do not pay any respect to the national and Islamic principles of the people and government.
Another strange point is this that the coalition forces still stress their position on being right in the launch of such attacks. They claim that they have killed insurgents in their recent strikes in Nurestan and Nangarhar Provinces but even the government officials have confirmed that all those killed were civilians only.
[Reporter] You said that President Karzai has alerted the foreign forces many times but still they do not heed these requests. But this time he used the word disaster for NATO’s air operations which resulted in the killing of civilians. Why are the foreign troops so inattentive to the demands of the Afghans and the government of this country?
[Observer] The foreign troops, mainly the US troops, have not come to Afghanistan to identify the bad and the good. They act independently and they have never been serious in avoiding civilian casualties. Afghanistan is currently under the invasion of the US government and neither the government nor the Afghans can make a wish or demand about their fate.
[Reporter] What will happen if the foreign troops continue their policies? I mean if they continue to target civilians in their attacks.
[Observer] The consequences are very clear. This will create a distance between the government and the people. Now the people really detest the foreign troops and in most of the cases, mainly in the southern and eastern provinces, the people fully cooperate with the Taleban. The Taleban, without the help of the people, could not grow to this extend. The distance between the government and the people is getting larger with each passing day.
[Reporter] As the last question, what is the solution for this? I mean how should the coalition forces alter on this.
[Observer] The UN and other agencies working for human rights should play their role. They should all condemn such killings and take up the issue with senior NATO officials. On the other hand, the government of Afghanistan should put more pressure on the US government. They should tell the US troops not to rely on any intelligence data. Some people might give them wrong intelligence. They should not rely on every piece of information. This is to the benefit of the Taleban. The Taleban might be involved in providing wrong intelligence to the foreign forces.
