Will
Taliban take over in Afghanistan?
After
this year the last remaining British and American troops will put out of
Afghanistan. From the end of this year Afghanistan will be on its own. No matter
how bad things get, no American or British government will come back to help. So
once the Afghanistan national forces are left largely to their own devices,
will they be able to cope with the challenge? or will the Taliban win the war
and control Afghanistan as they did from 1996 to 2001?
Nowadays
the Afghan army and police are an impressive body of men who have been
thoroughly trained and show a real pride in themselves. Their equipment is
first class and their commanders are selected on the basis of ability. They are
as different from the feeble, unwilling Afghan soldiers and policeman. The Taliban
found it relatively easy to beat the mujahedeen government and they managed to
convince sizeable numbers of uncommitted warlords they were going to win, and
won them over their side. Today Afghanistan is a different country, there is
more and more money around it and it seems altogether more advanced. Corruption
is everywhere, especially in government but no one who remembers the disastrous
years of Taliban rule, when corruption reached new heights is likely to believe
the Taliban will be any better.
As
part of the price for the deal, the new president will have to introduce more
Islamic practices. But whether the West likes it or not, the Taliban represent
an important element in the makeup of Afghanistan. If there is to be any kind
of peace, it will be impossible to exclude them altogether. As the withdrawal
of British, American and other forces from Afghanistan draws closer, the
Taliban and their allies are raising the number of their attacks. Their aims is
clearly to give the impression they have driven the foreign troops out.
