Afghanistan Civilians View Taliban as Liberators

Andrew Moran

July 15, 2009

Corruption and coercion brew in Afghanistan as the U.S. and NATO try to push back the Taliban, while villagers view the Taliban as liberators rather than oppressors.
After the initial invasion of Afghanistan began eight years ago, the situation in the region is nothing but a quagmire; Usama Bin Laden has not been captured, the Taliban are still rampant, the war is spreading into Pakistan and United States cannot afford it much longer.

In a published report that was released on Monday, many civilians in Afghanistan look to the Taliban for aid and in some regions within Afghanistan many of the populace view the Taliban as liberators rather than oppressors.

In an Associated Press report, "Afghans across the country complain bitterly about the country’s police, whose junior ranks earn only about $150 a month. Police pad their salaries by demanding bribes at checkpoints or kickbacks to investigate complaints, and police in opium poppy-growing regions turn a blind eye to drug smuggling for a cut of the profits, many Afghans complain."

The report continued, "A 2007 International Crisis Group report entitled 'Reforming Afghanistan’s Police’ found that Afghans often view the police 'more as a source of fear than of security.’ It said ending corruption was critical if police were to provide a 'professional, consistent service to citizens."

According to the Washington Post, Afghanis view the government as brutal and corrupt, which they then turn to the Taliban for help.

The Washington Post further added, "The police would stop people driving on motorcycles, beat them and take their money," said Mohammad Gul, an elder in the village of Pankela, which British troops have been securing for the past three days after flying in by helicopter.

He pointed to two compounds of neighbors where pre-teen children had been abducted by police to be used for the local practice of "bachabazi," or sex with pre-pubescent boys.

"If the boys were out in the fields, the police would come and rape them," he said. "You can go to any police base and you will see these boys. They hold them until they are finished with them and then let the child go."

Afghan Interior Ministry Spokesman Zemarai Bashary told reporters, "On an average basis, six to 10 police lose their lives [every day] while on duty, providing security for the people. Last year we had an average of six police dying every day but this year we have six to 10."

Some officials and analysts believe that Afghanistan could turn out to be worse than Iraq. In this case, the enemy the U.S. and NATO are trying to defeat is an enemy the U.S. created. During the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Jimmy Carter funded an operation called 'Operation Cyclone’ in which they created a group that would defeat the Russians, which is now known as the Taliban.