Six American soldiers were killed by Afghan National Army soldiers last week. They were among the 40 people killed in anti-American attacks after American soldiers accidental burned copies of the Koran at the Bagram Air Base. This comes at a time when the United States is increasing training efforts to prepare for transferring security duties to Afghan forces by 2014.
Since the war began, several thousand innocent Afghan civilians were killed, ensnared in the crossfire between NATO forces and Taliban insurgents. The war has destroyed lives, displaced families and has permanently blemished the lives of millions of Afghan people. Millions of youth have had their childhoods torn away by the ruckus of guns and grenades.
Add to those casualties the deaths of thousands of allied soldiers who were asked to live in a hostile land and fight a foe that barely revealed itself. Young men and women have laid down their lives fighting a war that they, arguably, could not associate with—especially, ten years later. So, when Afghan soldiers take aim at NATO troops, this takes the war to a completely different dimension—one of personal mistrust and hatred. One would have to question the worth of an endeavor that involves the likelihood of getting killed by the same people they are training.
If anyone stands to benefit by the continued involvement of international organizations inside Afghanistan, it would be the Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other bigwigs of the Northern Alliance. Members of the Karzai family have been accused of rampant corruption, and many of them have certainly amassed huge fortunes since the inception of the war. Drug trafficking in the country is now at an all-time high, not in the least affected by the policies of the Karzai regime. As millions of dollars pour into the war effort, the question arises again: What is the objective of the war? A better nation has not been built, and things appear to worsen by the day.
And with the current plan of leaving a small group of soldiers to train the Afghan army, the situation gets even more desperate as a very small number of troops will be left to face repercussions of any misgiving in an extremely volatile and vitriolic environment.
At this point, it would be helpful to pause and re-examine the cost incurred by the war in terms of lives lost, families of soldiers and civilians that mourn their deaths and the incapacitated who are faced with living the rest of their lives on a limb. Is it wise to further endanger the lives of soldiers in an environment pervaded by deep-rooted mistrust and a colossal lack of understanding? Looking at what precious little has been achieved, the answer will have to be a “no.”
Anurag Mandalika is a graduate student in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Please send feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
