FYI: AFGHANISTAN: Driven into the arms of the Taliban

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

AFGHANISTAN: Driven into the arms of the Taliban
"
QALA-E-NAW, 10 March 2010 - A year after his expulsion from Iran for not
having a work permit, Abdul Majid, 26, has found paid employment in Muqor
District, Badghis Province, northwestern Afghanistan.

 But it is not a normal job: "My son has joined the Taliban," Majid's
father, Bismillah, told IRIN, adding that he had had no contact with his son
for over three months.

 He said that in Muqor and other districts in Badghis Province some young
men, like his son, were joining the insurgents - mainly for economic
reasons. "He joined the Taliban out of desperation because he looked for a
job for several months but got nowhere."

 "They attack aid convoys, kidnap people and do all other kinds of
extortions," said Sayed Ahmad Sameh, the provincial police chief.

 The insurgents are believed to be making hefty profits from the narcotics
economy, which the UN Office for Drug and Crimes (UNODC) has estimated at
over US$3 billion a year. Ransom payments and "taxes" also pours money into
the insurgents' pockets, according to experts and government officials.

 "In places, they control roads, collect revenues and mete out swift
justice. They co-opt disenfranchised groups and pay young men to fight,"
said General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of all foreign forces in
Afghanistan, in his counter-insurgency doctrine in 2009.

 Sections of the international media allege that Taliban leaders pay their
soldiers more than the government pays members of the police and army.

 However, money may not be the only or even the main motivation for many
Taliban recruits: "We do not fight to get rich but to satisfy almighty
Allah," Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, told IRIN on the
phone from an undisclosed location.

 "The Taliban do not have dollars, and those that want to get rich work for
the government," he said.

 Creating jobs for young people is a key plank in US strategy: "Job creation
is critical to undermine extremists' appeal in the short-term and for
sustainable economic growth in the long-term," according to the US
government.

 Noor-ul-Haq Ulomi, a member of parliament, questions that analysis. "If
youths are joining the Taliban out of joblessness it proves the government's
failure in creating legitimate job opportunities. Why are people not joining
the army and police instead of the Taliban?"

 Warning
  The former special representative of the UN Secretary-General, Kai Eide,
in his last policy paper warned of the dangers of exaggerating the number of
the insurgents who are joining the Taliban for purely economic reasons.

 "We should not underestimate the number of those who fight for reasons of
ideology, resentment and a sense of humiliation - in addition to criminal
elements," he said in the paper entitled A Strategy for Transition to Afghan
Leadership.

 "It may not be difficult to buy a young man out of unemployment, but it is
difficult to buy him out of his convictions," he said.

 Meanwhile, President Karzai has vowed to tackle corruption in his
government. Afghanistan is ranked only second to Somalia in Transparency
International's 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index.

 UNODC reported that Afghans paid US$2.5 billion (23 percent of gross
domestic product) in bribes to government officials in 2009 - something that
is probably alienating many young Afghans.

 Over half the population (estimated at 27-28 million) is under 18, and
unemployment is believed to be running at over 40 percent. Afghanistan was
ranked the second poorest in the world by the UN Development Programme in
2009.
"

... toch een War on Drugs?

Henk Elegeert

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