Current Events Elisabeth Bumiller\'s Report

Current Events

Elisabeth Bumiller's report from the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is published on the 23rd of February, 2009, in the New York Times, under the title: From a Carrier, Another View of America's Air War in Afghanistan. Bumiller reports on the U.S. Navy supply of airpower from the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, on the Arabian Sea, aimed at fighting and surveying Taliban strongholds and coming to rescue when U.S. And British troops need it. The author of the report points out that the U.S. airstrikes against the Taliban insurgents, over the last seven years have triggered public protests against the civilian casualties they produce. Those in charge with the airstrikes launched from the USSS Roosevelt answer the increasing protests against the civilian casualties with the argument that the insurgents use tactics to make them aim at populated areas and look bad. The U.S. Navy is taking overcautious measures before launching an attack and invited president Hamid Karzai aboard the aircraft carrier to witness the procedures of launching bombs. The U.S. Navy was asked to provide support for the terrestrial forces in remote areas in Afghanistan since last summer, but they are not making use of unnecessary force, dropping fewer bombs and flying more reconnaissance missions.

Currently, Afghanistan has one of the lowest living conditions in the world, while being world's largest producer of opium. Over seven years after the U.S. invaded the country that was providing shelter and development ground for Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan's chance to find stability is still hard to predict. President Obama has recently ordered 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and U.S. aircraft carrier Roosevelt, in the Arabian Sea, launches two dozen combat planes that reach the southern Afghanistan region, every day. Since October 2001, the Bush administration was accused of having trespassed its initial plans of seeking and destroying Osamab bin Laden and his supporters and transformed the intervention against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan into an operation of changing one regime with another (Gossman, 8).

Afghanistan is a diverse country, comprised of seven main ethnic groups and several minor others. It is a land of strong contrasts, rich in natural resources such as iron ores and yet living on an agricultural and pastoral economy of subsistence (Roberts, xv). The tribes living in Afghanistan are very individualistic and, over the years, they gathered and obeyed to the same regime only in major cases of foreign invaders. The major ethnic group in Afghanistan is formed of the Pashtuns, with 42% of the total population, followed by the Tajik group, with 27% of the total population (CIA World Factbook).

The Pashtuns used to live mainly in the southern part of the country, where the lands were mostly infertile and spread across deserts and mountains. Today they are living in different parts of Afghanistan, being known for their cruel laws that make revenge mandatory. Although the law of revenge, named "badal" made Pashtun families fight over several generations, the members of the ethnic group are also known for their kindness towards strangers, except for the case when the strangers attempt to invade their territory, of course (idem, xiv). "As a result of the Pashtunwali, persistent inter and intra-tribal feuding, and other socio economic factors, most Afghan males became acquainted with weapons in their early childhood and develop a keen sense of marksmanship"..."the Afghans have acquired remarkable mechanical and ballistic aptitude, which allows them to make the best of captured equipment" (idem). Afghanistan's history shows the Afghans as fierce opponents to any attempt to subjugate their country to foreign rule.

Between the withdrawal of all the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, in 1989 nad the years when the Taliban's rise to power, the international opinion gave little attention to the highly dangerous situation in Afghanistan. Different factions and parties led fights marked by murders and rape. The reasons were mainly: fight to take control over the country, religion and political ideology. The Taliban emerged in a country dismembered by fights between rival tribes, ethnic groups, factions and parties, on the verge of collapse. They were educated according to the fundamental teachings of Sunni Islam (Gossman, 8). The group was initially motivated by fighting anarchy and creating an Islamic state. Other groups and factions soon adhered to the original movement. The new members were coming from mujahideen groups from inside the country or abroad. Some of them were trained by Osama bin Laden's followers. Since The Taliban took control of most of the country, in 1995, Pakistan led its support to the movement. All neighboring countries, except Iran closed their borders to the Afghan refugees, hoping that they will return and come to terms with the Taliban regime.

The U.S., British and NATO troops that fight the Taliban in Afghanistan are up against an enemy that has proven to have the resources to regenerate itself almost incessantly. Although the former uses technological means that change the relationship between combatants as it has never happened before, the different interests of the neighboring countries in the outcome of this war makes predictions still impossible.

Meanwhile, the death toll of civilians is increasing drastically is likely to increase over the next months. According to asurvey released by the United nations and quoted by Dexter Filkins, in the newspaper article Afghan Civilian Deaths Rose 40% in 2008, published in the electronic version of New York Times, on Feb. 18, 2009, 2118 civilians were killed in 2008, in the conflict between Taliban and the forced lead by the Americans (Filkins). The author of the article points out that the majority of civilian casualties were caused by suicide bombers or bombs planted by the Talibans. The rest of the civilians were killed during air attacks by American led forces. The joined forces of the present pro-American Afghan government and American, British and NATO Forces are still cooperating in lading the fight against the Taliban movement, but the outcome of the fight is still uncertain as long as countries like Pakistan and Russia are not committed to refuse any support to the insurgents.

The new administration of the U.S. appears to have shifted its interests from the Iraqui front to the war in Afghanistan. The 17,000 combat troops will join 36,000 that are already there. The U.S. army is also declaring that it is preparing to pass control over to the Afghan governmental military forces, at some point in the future, claiming more forces in order to achieve this goal, too (Thompson). The position and intentions of the U.S. On the Afghan front are riskier than ever. The Afghan population is shown by polling to have decreased its trust in the U.S. And NATO maneuvers to a half of what it used to be three years ago (idem). The war on terror slowly changes fronts, according to those who claim that the correct way to fight this global enemy should be concentrated on the Afghan territory.