PPG | Issues | Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Description

Ravaged by perhaps the bloodiest, and last, cold war battlefield against the Russians; by a 'peace' cemented by a loose coalition of drug warlords; by the iron-fisted misrule of the Taliban; and by ultra-strict religious laws. Afghanistan was a recipe for disaster long before the World Trade Centre attack on 11th September 2001.

Even before the destruction of the immense Buddhist statues at Bamiyan, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1216110.stm Donald Redford, the Professor of Classics at Pennsylvania State University, had forecast that "It's an ideological association of a building that eventually could cause it to be demolished" (Dunham 2001) This single act probably signalled the end of the negotiations between the proposed pipeline PSG consortium (G.E Capital, Unocal, Bechtel, Shell Oil, BP) and the Taliban. It was not destroyed previously, probably because it had been useful in securing tourism, but was now strategically symbolic and expendable in serving as a warning to the West of the Taliban`s alleged intentions.

Effect on Capitalism

Following the defeat of the Soviet Union, the Afghans could have been forgiven for assuming that the west might provide a modicum of support for the reconstruction of their war-torn country. Alas, they were left to fend for themselves and, unsurprisingly - given the lack of any kind of industrial infrastructure in their country - began to increase production of their most reliable export; high-grade opium. This lethal narcotic was produced in larger and larger quantities, flooding the black market and effectively divesting Afghanistan's banking systems of potential proceeds from other, 'legal', revenue streams.

Effect on Democracy

From 1996, the Taliban imposed its own version of 'government', criticised by many for its strict and repressive interpretation of islamic law and its violent forms of punishment (RAWA: 2001). The truth, however, is that this regime was tolerated by the West for as long as the possibility remained that the Taliban would permit a (PSG-constructed) pipeline linking up with the Trans-Caspian pipeline between Turkmenistan and the Indian Ocean, as revealed by the 1998 Hearing on the Central Asian Republics;

"Stated U.S. policy goals regarding energy resources in this region include fostering the independence of the States and their ties to the West; breaking Russia's monopoly over oil and gas transport routes; promoting Western energy security through diversified suppliers; encouraging the construction of east-west pipelines that do not transit Iran; and denying Iran dangerous leverage over the Central Asian economies."

House of Representatives Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Committee on International Relations." (12 Feb 1998) Courtesy of Centre for Research on Globalisation CRG -- Hearing On US Interests In The Central Asian Republics

Summary

In the words of Robert Gee (US Assistant Secretary for POLICY & INTERNATIONAL Affairs, Dept of Energy):

"I would caution that while we do support the project (Unocal pipeline through Afghanistan), the US government has not at this point recognised any governing regime of the transit country, one of the transit countries, Afghanistan, through which that pipeline would be routed. But we do support the pipeline."

House of Representatives subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Committee on International Relations, Washington DC 1998).

Comparing Afghanistan as a war-torn, opium producing country with, US policy in another war-torn, oil-producing country: Colombia, is very revealing. Colombia who received a $1.3 billion aid package to destroy cocaine production in one of President Clinton's last roles demonstrates a continuity in policy process across administrations. Further, following the comments by Robert Gee in 1998, one is left to conclude that the US, prior to making funding available for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, was holding out on the Taliban until it received its consent to build the Unocal pipeline.

POSTSCRIPT

Since the "end of hostilities" in Afghanistan, the country has installed an emergency Loya Jirga, an emergency President; Hamil Karzai, http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/profile/hamid-karzai.shtml and eighteen months to create a new Afghan Constitution. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/afghanistan.htm. To date, the country of Afghanistan is still ravaged by warlords, militarism and disaffected groups including the Taliban, Al Queda et al.

Flag used with permission: http://www.theodora.com/flags