World Ignores Dangerous Afghan Situation

A new Taliban may arise
Afghanistan has been an attention point of the world community for many years - many people have been writing and talking about this country since Soviet times, when the dirty political games began. For the last 22 years Afghanistan has been just retreating further and further back.
 
Every country, whether in Europe or in Asia, and even Pakistan – the founder of the Taliban - used to express their concern over the situation in Afghanistan. Millions of US dollars are being spent on various international conferences on Afghanistan. But one question arises: what is the result? The majority of the people of Afghanistan says that, the Taliban and their allies were looting Afghanistan and today…. Where is the world community now? Why do they keep silent? What about the SCO? What was the result of the conference of seven neighboring countries on Afghanistan held in Paris on May 20, 2003?
 
Recently this correspondent had a special talk with an eminent Afghan official  visiting Tashkent. He agreed to such a talk on condition of full anonymity. That is why our talk was sincere and frank.
 
The officer started by saying, "Hamid Karzai got tired of hearing baseless promises and he had to tell the truth at last. How long can he stay a leader just on paper? On paper everything is clear and excellent, but unfortunately in fact there is no rule, no law, as per Mr. Karzai. The country needs $15-20 billion. to get back to the level of 1979. Not only this, the Karzai government acknowledged that governors of 12 provinces of Afghanistan received 300 million pounds as custom duties, but they handed over only 50 million pounds to the central government. The rest of the money disappeared. Moreover, governors and departments are working according to their own rules and regulations, which is why the capital is becoming poorer and poorer day by day while some officials are getting wealthier and wealthier. The army has been divided into parts, and every part has its own rules. The situation is that almost no one is listening to Karzai. That is why Karzai is concerned; his health is not in good condition, and has been saying that he may retire at any time. In one interview he said that if the situation doesn’t not improve within three months from now he will call parliament and announce that his government will not be able to work any more under such circumstances. Then, automatically, the new election will take place.”
 
The government of the USA is aware of situation in Afghanistan of course. The authorities concerned very well know who is looting Afghanistan and that a major part of the international aid is going to the wrong people, and the ordinary citizens of Afghanistan are not happy. My interlocutor stated, “Can you imagine what would happen if the people of Afghanistan come onto streets rioting against such conditions? The results will be devastating. We may say that a new Taliban will come into existence, with more dangerous consequences for the country and its neighbors.” Further, the officer said that, “Please note, this is not a prediction, this is reality."

These are the words of a serious official and representative of Afghanistan who knows the situation better than others.
 
According to this officer, even allies of the USA in the international coalition - neighboring Uzbekistan and some other countries - are not fully satisfied with the course of events in Afghanistan. The president of the republic of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, while addressing the 10th session of the Uzbek parliament, said, "Peace and stability are still distant because of the slow inflow of reconstruction assistance. Uzbekistan fears that if discontent among the people of Afghanistan rises again then it may have grave and dangerous consequences. What is needed are practical acts and results."

Of course, the government and president are fully aware of what is going on in  Afghanistan, but unfortunately this has brought no concrete result to date. On the other hand, every one knows that USA does not render assistance to others without keeping in mind its own interest. The USA is sending troops here and there. Afghanistan, Iraq and some ex-Soviet republics are examples of this. You can ask the ordinary people and experts of the abovementioned countries what they think about  that and carefully listen to their statements, said this officer. Further, he said that if you really want to get first-hand information about us, about our land and the situation, you should visit Kunduz, Kandahar, Gazni, Jalalabad and, please, meet with ordinary citizens. Foreign telecasts on Afghanistan have nothing to do with reality.
 
According to this representative of Afghanistan. "The country today requires first of all aid for forming its own army, law-enforcement agencies, security services, a better border service, for developing its industries and agriculture. Afghanistan should be ruled by a real government respected and of course understood by the citizenry. If necessary we can invite our former leaders and experienced officials now living abroad back. We hope that many will come back to help in the development of their native country. You may recall the old days when Afghanistan was a respected member of the world community, but today even small countries treating us either like terrorists or drug dealers."

My interlocutor outlined that the people of Afghanistan are special mountain people and that the world community should understand this fact. “Unless you win our hearts, you will not achieve anything. The reason is clear - the mountains and land belong to us, because this is our country, this is our birthplace. Actually, we people of Afghanistan are looking for sincere and real assistance, which has nothing to do with politics. We Afghans are in need and are looking for an honest friend country who really wants to see Afghanistan like it was before 1979,” added this officer. 
 
Aloke Shekhar
UZBEKISTAN