President failing to contain threat, says Afghan politician
Matthew Fisher, National Post
Published: Monday, June 12, 2006
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=712cfcab-dd6e-4f29-9838-0f1b88c21bc9&p=1
"It's not that the Taliban is strong. It is that our government is weak," is how General Noorolhaq Olomi, who represents Kandahar in the Afghan Parliament, analyzed the recent surge in violence in the province where Canadian troops are stationed.
"The enemy is in groups of 10, 20, 100 and 500," said Olomi, who was the top Afghan official in Kandahar during the Soviet era. "There are not more than 1,000 of them in the south.
"The Taliban carry out suicide bombings and other terror on the roads, and fire some rockets. But these attacks really show weakness, not strength. They cannot confront regular forces."
Nevertheless, Olomi, who cuts a curious figure here because he speaks English and Russian, wears Western business garb and is a clean-shaven secularist, acknowledged that Islamic extremists have run amok in some parts of the immense district he represents.
"After 41/2 years, our people are going in one direction and the government in another," the long-time communist said.
"People want security, and they say that the government has given them none. There is no safety in the villages. If you support the government, the Taliban kill you. They even kill mullahs who support the government. So why should the people trust the government?"
Nevertheless, the security situation when he commanded an Afghan army corps when Moscow tried to run the country was "100, 1,000 times more dangerous than today. That was a real war."
Like most Afghans, Olomi blames Pakistan for the Afghan insurgency. "We know with certainty that the centres of al-Qaeda and the Taliban are in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. They get help, training and weapons there."
With 10,000 newly trained men in the Afghan security forces, plus the U.S.-led coalition, which includes Canada, in the southeast, and a NATO force in the north and west, Olomi wondered why "we have done nothing to keep an eye on the border or to seal it? The Taliban come and go freely across our borders."
As a self-described expert on the 1,600-kilometre frontier with Pakistan, Olomi asked rhetorically, "Why does Pakistan allow this?"
His explanation was that Pakistan was controlled by four groups -- the Musharraf military government, Pakistan's intelligence service, Islamic fundamentalists who have great influence in some regions, and the border tribes -- who all agree on one issue: "They do not want Afghanistan to have a strong government. They would really like us to be a province of Pakistan."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has often made similar points about Pakistan, but Olomi blamed him for the government's precarious writ.
"Karzai has unfortunately counted more on the warlords than the Afghan people," Olomi said. "We have not developed strong parties and this created a chance for the warlords. Our President has warlords and jihadis for advisors. Everyone knows they are killing, drugging, bribing and selling narcotics. They control the Supreme Court.
"The insurgency can be stopped if Mr. Karzai changes and brings in qualified and honest people. But he has no idea how the people really feel. Let him teach at a university, not run a country."
Surprisingly, for someone who had close ties to Moscow and the Red Army for many years, Olomi has been a staunch backer of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
"Everybody knows the best country in this struggle is the U.S.," he said. "There is no way they are going to leave us."
Still, he said the U.S. has made mistakes. The most grievous was allowing "warlords and jihadis to skip out" to Pakistan after defeating the Taliban regime in 2001.
As for the Canadians, who are in charge of coalition forces in Kandahar, Olomi said, "Whenever there is heavy fighting, people say it is the Americans, not Canadians. It's like when we speak of Pakistan, we don't differentiate between their various groups, we just say it's Pakistan.
"Let the Canadians, Dutch, British and Australian be here, but let us have a strong central government. If our people support the government, they will support you."
As for the Taliban, "they try to take power again, but this is not their time."
Matthew Fisher, National Post
Published: Monday, June 12, 2006
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=712cfcab-dd6e-4f29-9838-0f1b88c21bc9&p=1
"It's not that the Taliban is strong. It is that our government is weak," is how General Noorolhaq Olomi, who represents Kandahar in the Afghan Parliament, analyzed the recent surge in violence in the province where Canadian troops are stationed.
"The enemy is in groups of 10, 20, 100 and 500," said Olomi, who was the top Afghan official in Kandahar during the Soviet era. "There are not more than 1,000 of them in the south.
"The Taliban carry out suicide bombings and other terror on the roads, and fire some rockets. But these attacks really show weakness, not strength. They cannot confront regular forces."
Nevertheless, Olomi, who cuts a curious figure here because he speaks English and Russian, wears Western business garb and is a clean-shaven secularist, acknowledged that Islamic extremists have run amok in some parts of the immense district he represents.
"After 41/2 years, our people are going in one direction and the government in another," the long-time communist said.
"People want security, and they say that the government has given them none. There is no safety in the villages. If you support the government, the Taliban kill you. They even kill mullahs who support the government. So why should the people trust the government?"
Nevertheless, the security situation when he commanded an Afghan army corps when Moscow tried to run the country was "100, 1,000 times more dangerous than today. That was a real war."
Like most Afghans, Olomi blames Pakistan for the Afghan insurgency. "We know with certainty that the centres of al-Qaeda and the Taliban are in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. They get help, training and weapons there."
With 10,000 newly trained men in the Afghan security forces, plus the U.S.-led coalition, which includes Canada, in the southeast, and a NATO force in the north and west, Olomi wondered why "we have done nothing to keep an eye on the border or to seal it? The Taliban come and go freely across our borders."
As a self-described expert on the 1,600-kilometre frontier with Pakistan, Olomi asked rhetorically, "Why does Pakistan allow this?"
His explanation was that Pakistan was controlled by four groups -- the Musharraf military government, Pakistan's intelligence service, Islamic fundamentalists who have great influence in some regions, and the border tribes -- who all agree on one issue: "They do not want Afghanistan to have a strong government. They would really like us to be a province of Pakistan."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has often made similar points about Pakistan, but Olomi blamed him for the government's precarious writ.
"Karzai has unfortunately counted more on the warlords than the Afghan people," Olomi said. "We have not developed strong parties and this created a chance for the warlords. Our President has warlords and jihadis for advisors. Everyone knows they are killing, drugging, bribing and selling narcotics. They control the Supreme Court.
"The insurgency can be stopped if Mr. Karzai changes and brings in qualified and honest people. But he has no idea how the people really feel. Let him teach at a university, not run a country."
Surprisingly, for someone who had close ties to Moscow and the Red Army for many years, Olomi has been a staunch backer of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
"Everybody knows the best country in this struggle is the U.S.," he said. "There is no way they are going to leave us."
Still, he said the U.S. has made mistakes. The most grievous was allowing "warlords and jihadis to skip out" to Pakistan after defeating the Taliban regime in 2001.
As for the Canadians, who are in charge of coalition forces in Kandahar, Olomi said, "Whenever there is heavy fighting, people say it is the Americans, not Canadians. It's like when we speak of Pakistan, we don't differentiate between their various groups, we just say it's Pakistan.
"Let the Canadians, Dutch, British and Australian be here, but let us have a strong central government. If our people support the government, they will support you."
As for the Taliban, "they try to take power again, but this is not their time."
