Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1403840
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 AUGUST 2021 NEWS 3.5 million Afghan girls were in school, and around a third of students at public and private universities are women. Yet the occupation not only failed in bringing an end to violence but resulted in an escalation, with US and government air- strikes responsible for 2,122 civilian deaths including 785 children, between 2016 and 2020. Since 2001 nearly 80,000 civilians have lost their lives, alongside 76,000 Afghan police and soldiers, 85,000 insurgents and 3,600 US and allied troops. And Afghanistan remains one of the world poorest countries with only six countries world- wide – among them Burundi, Somalia, and Sierra Leone – having a lower GDP per head than Afghanistan. Moreover a fifth of Afghan GDP is reck- oned to come from the opium trade, much of which has been controlled by the Taliban. Restorers of order In short, the country re- mained destabilised, with the Taliban once again re-emerg- ing from chaos to restore or- der. They had already done so in 1996 when the Taliban moved in to put an end to the chaos of civil war between rival war- lords in the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal. In so doing, the Taliban were actively as- sisted by Pakistan, a key US re- gional ally, with its own region- al designs pitted against India. Their first gruesome action was abducting the last commu- nist leader of Afghanistan from UN custody, whose castrat- ed body was dragged behind a truck through the streets of Kabul. And while the Taliban gave the war-ravaged country a semblance of peace, it came at the great cost of greater op- pression of women, religious intolerance against Shiites and Hindus, and restrictions on daily life, including a ban on pop and folk music and beard shaving. Blowback Yet the Taliban's brand of radical Islamism was itself bred in the belly of the beast, nour- ished by the US assistance it received during the days of the anti-Soviet insurgency of the 80s and 90s. Following the logic of Cold War politics, a motley crew of Islamist 'mujahedeen' that in- cluded rich Saudi adventurers like Osama Bin Laden and re- gional strongmen, were active- ly backed by the Americans and western allies in an attempt to deal a blow to an ailing Soviet Union. In short, at that time the 'en- emy of my enemy' was a valua- ble motto with little consider- ation for what would happen when this enemy becomes too powerful to tame. It was the same logic that created mon- sters like Saddam Hussein in Iraq, who for a time was seen as a bulwark against the Iran of Ayatollah Khomeini. Ironically, it was under the Afghan communist regime propped by Soviet troops that most progress was made in gender equality in education and healthcare, extending pro- gress made under the monar- chy – whose 1964 constitu- tion proclaimed equality and banned discrimination – to the countryside, thus further an- gering conservative clerics. Once again that progress is at risk as the Taliban move in to fill a vacuum created by a failed military occupation. Much now depends on how much the Taliban crave inter- national recognition and eco- nomic assistance, and how far the US and key regional powers will make this conditional on basic respect for human rights including women's rights. Taliban Mark 2 This time around, the Taliban are showing signs that they are not oblivious to world opinion, committing themselves to re- spect women's rights includ- ing that of attending schools and universities, albeit with the proviso that this should be "within the norms of Islamic law." This suggests that this time round the Taliban dread complete isolation from the rest of the world, which could shut them out from lucrative commercial deals and Silk Road diplomacy. Major players like China may be more interested in guaran- tees from the Taliban not to shelter armed groups hailing from Muslim populations like the Uyghurs, which China is actively oppressing, than in seeking humanitarian guaran- tees which they themselves do not even respect. The return of the Taliban to power poses a test to the inter- national community's commit- ment to uphold human rights and not to turn a blind eye on asylum seekers fleeing the Af- ghan hell-hole. If the Taliban do change their outlook on hu- man rights, it would show that negotiation is far more effec- tive than war in bringing about change. Still, much depends on the firmness of their interloc- utors when sealing deals with the Taliban. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Firing a D-30 Howitzer at Kabul Military Training Centre, 2013, for test fires for refurbished artillery weapons. The Afghan military was trained by Americans and in the same structure as the US armed forces U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY TECH. SGT. JOSEPH B. PROUSE The Taliban are showing signs that they are not oblivious to world opinion, committing themselves to respect women's rights including that of attending schools and universities, albeit with the proviso that this should be "within the norms of Islamic law" The Taliban's brand of radical Islamism was itself bred in the belly of the beast, nourished by the US assistance it received during the days of the anti-Soviet insurgency of the 80s and 90s