Afghanistan is quickly becoming a failure and will likely end up a greater mess than Iraq.
This is how Fairfax is reporting the situation in Oruzgan Province where the majority of Australian soldiers deployed at a cost of $7.5 billion:
A source in Tarin Kot, the provincial capital where up to 1500 Australian troops were based for nearly eight years, told Fairfax Media it was widely believed that the Taliban had control of three of the province’s six districts – Deh Rawood, Khas Uruzgan and Shahidi Hassas – outside the cities.
“The security situation is very bad … and it is definitely getting worse,” said the 25-year-old local man who works with Western aid organisations.
The unfortunate reality is that the Islamic State will have more say over Afghanistan’s future than we will. That means Australia’s most lasting legacy in Afghanistan may well be that the mosque we built in Oruzgan is used to rally jihadis to conduct attacks on our home soil.
It’s likely that the mosque built by the Australian Defence Force in Oruzgan will be used to promote Islamic violence.
If that’s not bad enough, the Australian Defence Force will purge any officer that states the obvious. This is what I wrote just under a year ago and recorded a short time later:
“In a nutshell, the Australian military and Western governments in general do not understand the enemy. That is why the war in Iraq was a failure, and was always going to lead to disaster for Iraq. Furthermore, the rise to power of violent Islamists in Iraq today is a window into the future of Afghanistan.
Despite the hard work, bravery and sacrifice of Australian and Coalition soldiers, these wars have not made the West safer, nor have they improved conditions for those living in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the wider Middle East. I used to think and hope that it was otherwise. But wishful thinking does not equal the truth.”
and
“…things are no better in Afghanistan.
The mission of the International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan starts out with the words:
“In support of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan…”
What sort of government have forty Australians died to support? It’s written loud and clear in its constitution too.
Article One
“Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic, independent, unitary and indivisible state.”
Article Two
“The religion of the state of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the sacred religion of Islam.
Followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law.”
Article Three
“In Afghanistan, no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.”
The truth is that after the atrocities of September 11 and Bali and the London Bombings, Western governments responded by establishing two states based entirely upon Sharia Law.
And thousands of soldiers from Coalition nations have died to build governments that implement Sharia Law.
This all occurred because the West has refused to understand the enemy.”
Should we be surprised that young Afghan men are signing up for the Islamic State when we did our very best to build them almost exactly the same thing?
