Tuesday, May 11, 2010

NATO Forces Unable To Control Handful of Taliban

'The coming days in Afghanistan will be very tough. We have outlined a plan to drive the Taliban out of Kandahar. The operation, which will be carried out in the environs of Kandahar City will not be conventional.' These words were uttered by General David Petreaus. Recently, he conducted a secret visit to some of the Afghan cities amidst high security. In the end, he closely observed the situation in Kandahar.

Deteriorating Situation
On return, he confessed during a press conference: 'The security situation in Kandahar is constantly deteriorating. We will have painful moments during the coming weeks. The inhabitants of Kandahar will have to prepare themselves for extreme problems, as we expect tough resistance from the Taliban. Despite all troubles, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces and the Afghan Army will launch a joint decisive operation. The purpose of the operation is to drive the Taliban out of Kandahar. The United States will channel all its energy in this operation.'

Readers, exactly four months ago, the United States had invaded Helmand, the second major Taliban center. A similar announcement had been made prior to striking Marjah. Supported by its allies, the United States had announced that the Taliban will be wiped out from their stronghold, Helmand. It made much clamor about the firmness of its resolve and about carrying it out. Military contingents were selected from the fresh 30,000 troops that had just arrived from the United States. The allies were told that the operation would be successful. However, all the imperialist forces joined together could not wipe out the Taliban. However, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Spain did have to suffer irrecoverable loss.

Extreme Psychological Pressure
According to reliable sources, the death toll during the first month of Helmand Operation, from 15 January to 15 February stood at 877. These figures are only of those bodies that landed on airport in beautiful coffins, which the high ups had come to salute. The situation from 16 February to 16 March was even more horrible. The number of the dead bodies of the US and NATO soldiers, whose coffins reached their homes, was 1391. The number of destroyed vehicles of the United States and NATO was 141. The number of armed vehicles and tanks was 342; while, trucks and oil tankers were 51; helicopters and aircrafts were seven; drones were five. The total number of the killed US and NATO soldiers is 2,268.

While writing this article, I have before me a whole pile of English, Arabic and Urdu reports, in which the figures of US soldiers, killed from 2001 to March 2010, is given. I labored hard to calculate the figures, which are as follows: total US Army 7374, US Navy 176, marine 1686, air force 260. The total number is 9496. Other than this, those wounded and crippled are numberless. The soldiers and security personnel, who have survived, are victim to extreme psychological pressure. The demand made by the people of the United States for ending this war has intensified.

According to a recent survey, Obama's popularity has declined by 55 percent because in his electoral campaign, he had announced to change the entire world and end wars. However, today's world has become the most horrible of all. The situation in Afghanistan is going from bad to worse. The US and NATO forces have panicked. In panic, they are firing bombs on Afghan people and defenseless civilians. The NATO soldiers are unable to hit their targets. From this you can very well imagine how frightened they are.

Achieving Desired Results
On 14 and 15 February, the NATO aircrafts killed 17 innocent, common citizens. Agencies like Amnesty International say that the joint operation is killing more common citizens than the Taliban. General Stanley McChrystal also had to apologize on this score. In other words, the Taliban are fighting in more organized way. They have planted field mines at all the entry paths of the city. A net of field mines has also been spread in the interior city. They are giving tough time to the US and NATO forces with self-made bombs. On the other hand, the NATO forces are using every tactic, fair as well as foul, to achieve the desired results. Yet, they are unable to control a handful of the Taliban.

Moreover, several Afghan groups are joining Taliban. According to a report, 25 Afghan policemen, who had been fighting shoulder to shoulder with the NATO forces, have joined Taliban. They have handed over their weapons and equipment to the Taliban and have announced to fight against the allies, along with the Taliban. This report is quite remarkable.

Quagmire of Afghanistan
On 20 February, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, speaker of the Afghan Parliament, resigned from his position in support of the Taliban. That is why the United States and its allies are worried. They are trying to get out of the quagmire of Afghanistan. However, they can find no honorable withdrawal.

Last week, the meeting of the foreign minister of the 28 NATO countries was held in Tallinn, a city in East European country Estonia. At the meeting, all the foreign ministers, including the US secretary of state, agreed that the security responsibilities would start to be hand over to the Afghan force during the ongoing year.

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