|
IF THESE ARE OUR FRIENDS, THEN WHO ARE OUR ENEMIES?
Amir
Butler, Australian Muslim Public
Affairs Committee
Whilst the world rallies against the Taliban, many point to the
Northern
Alliance as being the future leaders of Afghanistan or, at
least,
instrumental in aiding the West in conquering the Taliban.
As reports of British and American troops providing aid to
Northern
Alliance fighters flood in, and an admission by Vladimir Putin
that
the Russians have been arming and supporting them,
certain
uncomfortable questions need to be asked.
If Australians know little about their enemies in this war, they know
even
less about their "friends". A question that we all need to ask
is, if this is
really a just war, how can the United States and her
allies justify
supporting an army that has been universally condemned
for war crimes and
human rights abuses?
Prior to the appearance of the Taliban, Afghanistan was a killing
field as
warring factions battled it out for control of Kabul. In
1994, at least
25,000 civilians were killed in rocket and artillery
attacks on the city. One
third of Kabul was reduced to rubble. There
was no law or order, and,
according to Human Rights Watch, Ahmad Shah
Masood's faction and others,
engaged in rape, summary executions,
arbitrary arrest, and torture.
Describing pre-Taliban conditions, a 1995 Amnesty International
report
reads: "Women and girls all over Afghanistan live in constant fear
of
being raped by armed guards. For years, armed guards have been
allowed
to torture them in this way without fear of reprimand from
their
leaders. In fact, rape is apparently condoned by most leaders as
a
means of terrorizing conquered populations and or rewarding soldiers."
It was exactly in response to this lawlessness that the Taliban
appeared.
The Taliban were originally students from local madrassas
(religious schools)
who were asked by desperate villagers to clean up
the crime that was rampant
under the Rabbani regime. Within a very
short time, the warring factions had
been largely disarmed or repelled
to the north, and there was some semblance
of peace and stability in
Afghanistan.
Enter the Northern Alliance. With the appearance of the Taliban,
the
warring factions united to fight the new common enemy. The
Northern
Alliance is made up of groups representing Shi'ite, Sunni
and
Communist interests. All the vast ideological and political
differences were
put aside in the face of the threat of an Islamic state
forming in
Afghanistan. The only thing they had in common was a hatred of
the
Taliban. If the Taliban are removed, there is little doubt that
war
will once again ensue between each of these factions as they
compete
for power and leadership.
According to Human Rights Watch's backgrounder entitled
"Military
Assistance to the Afghan Opposition" (October 2001), our new
friends
have a history of committing horrific war crimes, often against
civilians.
On September 20-21, 1998, Masood's forces launched rockets at
Kabul,
killing up to 180 civilians. The Red Cross released a statement
on
September 23, 1998 condemning these attacks as being indiscriminate
and
the deadliest that the city had seen in three years of war.
In May 1997, Northern Alliance forces executed 3,000 captured
Taliban
soldiers. HRW reports that the lucky ones were taken to the
desert
and shot, whereas others were thrown down wells and blown up
with
grenades.
In January, 1997, Northern Alliance planes dropped cluster bombs
on
residential areas in Kabul. Many civilians were killed and wounded
in
the indiscriminate attack.
In March, 1995, HRW reported that forces under the command of
Masood,
entered the Kabul neighbourhood of Karte She and raped and
looted the area's
Hazara population. The 1996 US State Department
report on human rights
recorded that, "Masood's troops went on a
rampage, systematically looting
whole streets and raping women".
For the United States to utilise the services of the Northern
Alliance,
when the US State Department itself condemned them for mass
rapes and war
crimes is inconceivable. It may also be illegal, under
the Leahy Law, a US
law that prohibits the provision of assistance to
foreign forces that have
committed gross human rights violations.
Yet, if the first casualty of war is
the truth, then in this war, the
second casualty has been the law.
The use of the Northern Alliance to fight a war against terrorism is
like
using the Mafia to fight the war on drugs. It is immoral and
hypocritical.
More importantly, it demonstrates the kind of duplicity
and injustice in
American foreign policy that has led many around the
world to hold so much
contempt for it.
--
Australian Muslim Public Affairs Committee (AMPAC)
PO Box 180
PASCOE
VALE SOUTH VIC 3044
Tel/Fax: +61-(0)3-8300-7556
Email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web:
http://www.muslimaffairs.com.au
| 