The Mindless Mantra: Australian forces in Afghanistan

The Taliban is a complex alliance of competing forces held together to rid themselves of a common enemy. Whether they show it or not most Afghan soldiers on the ‘side’ of the Western coalition share those feelings. By long necessity the Pushtuns are traders and that is how, at one level, they are playing the Western presence.

We are told by defence that Lieutenant Marcus Case was killed when on a helicopter which crashed. Helicopters don’t just crash. There is always a reason, bad weather, poor maintenance, poor piloting or ground fire, which is it?

I for one am fed up with the half truths and lies emanating from senior defence officers over all aspects of Australia’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan; a war in which the original objectives have long since disappeared.

There are many countries in the world that have the potential to be a breeding ground for terrorism. The preconditions are poverty, corrupt and non-democratic elites, holding most of the wealth, and anger on the part of sections of the population at this state of affairs and with the U.S. and other powerful countries for supporting and/or propping up those regimes.

One of those regimes is that of Mohammed Karzai, President of Afghanistan. For as long as the U.S. is in Afghanistan, maintaining Karzai in power, expect the terrorists, aka the Taliban, to flourish.

Sadly for the people of Afghanistan, once the Western alliance withdraws, the various components of the Taliban will fight amongst themselves, in a medieval conflict that will not auger well for women and children. But the people of Afghanistan with the help and interference of their neighbours will have to work that out.

The limits of U.S. power and influence have been reached, thanks to George Bush. The tide is ebbing for the U.S. It cannot police the world on borrowed money and Australia needs to look after its own real interests closer to home. It might start with a complete overhaul of the Department of Defence.

Both major parties will suffer politically if Australian casualties continue, throughout the summer fighting season, at the level of the past week.