The rifle is still pointing at Afghanistan
The
Scottish
Reviewers
Alan Fisher’s World
Sunday 15 February
Twenty years ago this weekend, Soviet tanks rolled out of Afghanistan – ending its traumatic 10-year occupation and in essence creating the situation we see now. For 10 years, they fought and battled with those who wanted them out of the country. There was the ordinary Afghan who saw their presence as an affront, the Pakistani security services which worried about this Godless entity on its border, the foreign fighters who took up the notion of Jihad, and of course there were the Americans who saw a new battleground in the Cold War.
The film, ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’, makes the excellent point about the billions of dollars the Americans poured into winning the war, but didn’t fancy spending a cent to help win the peace. Twenty years on, their soldiers are the new foreign invaders – the new targets of the angry Afghans and the growing power of the Taliban.
I watched Al Jazeera this week and saw a senior soldier stand on the roof of our building in Kabul and assure the world that everything in the capital was safe. I’ve not spoken to my friends there but I bet he was surrounded by bodyguards off camera – who would peer into the distance, their fingers curled around their weapons, the muscles tense against anything unusual.
And twenty years on, the Russians are warning that the US, UK and NATO are in danger of watching history repeat itself. The Russians spent 10 years and lost 14,000 soldiers. They thought they were bringing peace and stability. But they didn’t. When they left, everything got worse. The US wants to put more troops on the ground. The Russians can’t believe it’s an option. No-one has won a military battle against the Afghans. It’s unlikely to change now. Secret talks continue – brokered by the Saudis. If there’s a way forward for Afghanistan, it’s not coming from the end of the rifle. Just ask the Russians.
Monday 16 February
At the Mini plant in Oxfordshire this morning, around five o’clock, the nightshift was split. Contractors employed by outside agencies were asked to gather in block T, while the staff employed directly by BMW were asked to wait by the production line. The latter got some bad news. The factory was closing for a week, and when it re-opened it would be moving to a five- day week. There was some concern, but overall resignation. For the outside staff, things were much worse. With no protection and no compensation in their contracts, they were told their jobs finished now. Essentially they were sacked with immediate effect – 850 people unemployed just like that.
A few hours later, on the streets of Bicester, I met Ali Naser Datoo. He’d worked at the factory for 18 months. Now he was checking job firms, job centres, shop windows, looking for any prospect of work. ‘I understand things are hard and they had to make changes, but why no notice? This wasn’t a sudden decision. They didn’t decide suddenly on Sunday to do this. We have bills, we have rent, mortgages, commitments. They could plan. They did not give us the same courtesy.’
Unions are angry. They say BMW, who now own Mini, couldn’t have done in Germany what they did here because of the labour laws there. There’s obviously a legal argument. Ali Naser and his friends believes there’s a moral one too.
Tuesday 17 February
Kosovo is one year old today. There have been celebrations in Pristina marking the anniversary. One year ago I stood inside the Grand Hotel and watched people cry, cheer and celebrate as a nation of 2 million was created. Fifty four nations of the UN’s 192 countries have recognised the state, including all but five of the EU states. The doom-mongers predicted so much disaster – an upsurge in violence in the region, a new round of ethnic cleansing, a wave of drug and people smuggling, maybe even a new war. They were wrong. And there were warnings that Kosovo’s declaration would encourage other areas to launch their own breakaways. Sure, Russia used it as an example during last summer’s war against Georgia, claiming it was protecting the two breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But even if there hadn’t been a breakaway, there would still have been a war. Kosovo would still like to join the EU. It’s a dream, but then so was independence.
Wednesday 18 February
America is sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The decision, which has been coming for weeks, was finally made after Barack Obama called the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, on Tuesday – the first time the two have talked since the inauguration. The troops will be on the ground in the next few weeks, normally a time when the fighting intensifies because the weather gets warmer. There’s also the need to ensure greater security across the country as they’ll be voting in presidential elections in August. Hamid Karzai will stand again, but this time there will be stronger opposition from people who think there’s a better way.
Obama is perhaps smart enough to realise that overwhelming firepower isn’t the only answer. He says there has to be diplomacy and development. And there will have to be talks with the Taliban. They command a great deal of support and that simply isn’t going to go away.
Alan Fisher is an Al Jazeera correspondent
The Weekend Review
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Thirteen years on, young people in Scotland are fighting for a better world. In this edition we celebrate some of their work
THE YOUNG IDEALISTS
Photo essay by Islay McLeod
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THE POVERTY FIGHTERS
Barbara Millar and Nick Henderson on Youth End Poverty
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THE MAN WHO NURTURED TALENT
Kenneth Roy
on Arnold Kemp
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The Scottish Review is published on Tuesday and Thursday. The next edition will be on Tuesday 10 March
The Scottish Review is proud
to be associated with the
Arnold
Kemp
Awards
The awards in his memory are given each year for outstanding work in the community by young people
Today we announce the results of the 2009 awards with profiles of the winners and runners-up
