Taliban: A Terrorist
Group, Not A Political Party
By Wahid Monawar
June 11, 2011
How ironic, of all people in the world, Vladimir Lenin, the Russian
revolutionary defined the goal of terrorism succinctly. Lenin said: “the purpose
of terrorism is to terrorize.” A century has unfolded since Lenin’s practical
conclusion. In modern era, America witnessed the act of domestic terrorism by
Timothy McVeigh, a United States Army veteran also known as the Oklahoma City
Bomber, who sympathized with militia movement and grew tired of his federal
government. McVeigh killed 168 innocent civilians, including women and children,
and injured 450; his action was the deadliest act of terrorism within the United
States prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
When September 11 occurred, Osama Bin Laden became the overnight poster child
of terrorism. With Bin Laden now serving as organic fish food at the bottom of
the Indian Ocean, his co-conspirators, the Taliban continuously terrorize
freedom. The Taliban are the perfect face of the modern terrorism in all of its
glorious pathology. Why anyone takes them seriously is utterly beyond me. And
yet for some, including Afghanistan’s leader, their bogus moral preening
continues to resonate.
While Afghanistan’s president and his family are openly advocating for the
Taliban to be recognized as a legitimate political movement, the Taliban’s
actions clearly classify them as a terrorist organization which desperately
preys on vulnerable minds. Boys as young as 12-years-old are recruited to become
suicide bombers under the false pretense of promises which will never be
delivered. And in turn, the Taliban boast about using these children as human
bombs to slaughter civilians in universities and hospitals across Afghanistan.
When the Pakistan-backed Taliban regime collapsed in 2001, Afghanistan’s
doors were open to all Afghans, regardless of their ethnicity or political
affiliation. Even those who served during the dark days of the Afghan Communist
era seized this opportunity and reintegrated themselves to help in rebuilding
Afghanistan. The Taliban, however, resorted to terrorism to appease their
Pakistani ISI masters to incessantly inflict terror on Afghans.
Although there is no broadly accepted definition for terrorism, a terrorist
group such as the Taliban commonly is defined as a set of individuals belonging
to a non-state entity that uses terrorism to achieve their goal. In the
Taliban’s case, their objective is for the United States to leave Afghanistan,
so Pakistan ISI can conveniently move back in, as in the late-nineties. While
most terrorist groups are political by nature, their aim is to target civilians
as the Taliban demonstrate this on daily basis.
Unfortunately, Afghan president’s 10 infelicitous years at the helm has
failed to help him to grasp the basic notion that even terrorist groups that
have ended, did so by pursuing their goals through politics. There is no need to
rebrand them and fabricate an identity that genuinely doesn’t fit and is
seriously incongruous with Taliban’s character. Today, Taliban’s ideological
motivation, to kill Americans because they are Christian, no longer resonates
with Afghans, unless Mr. Karzai stokes Afghans sentiment against the United
States and appeal to their emotional intelligence.
Unlike Afghanistan’s president, the Taliban do understand that their goal of
knocking America out of Afghanistan and the region is extremely unattainable and
the only way they could envisage a political settlement and by some miracles
find a voice in Afghan society after fifteen years of continuous atrocities, is
to redefine their objective narrowly.
For a hypothetical moment, suppose, tomorrow the Taliban open up a political
office in Afghanistan. One would highly doubt that Afghans will voluntarily join
their political party as Taliban’s past track record is a clear indication of a
savage cult that misunderstands Islam and has no respect for Afghan cultural
values. No Afghan would want to be the subject of public flogging like livestock
in exchange for a political discourse.
But the senseless Afghan war must end. If Mr. Karzai is truly genuine about
bringing a well-deserved peace to Afghanistan, he must be genuine about the
peace process. First, Mr. Karzai must discern between Afghanistan’s foes and
friends. He must use the tools of democracy afforded to him at the sacrifice of
the international community and the Afghan people, to delegitimize terrorist
actions. For example: the Afghan Parliament must be encouraged to pass a law
that forbids any Afghans to take arms against the Constitution of Afghanistan,
punishable by death, with a final amnesty to all Taliban terrorist before the
law is ratified. This will demonstrate to the Afghan people that Karzai’s
government is a serious institution and true custodian of the Afghan
Constitution.
Second, the Afghan government must work hard to reform mosques that have
historically been used as a tipping point for major political upheavals. Whether
it has been the Iranian regime or Pakistan ISI – they have easily manipulated
these venues to propagate against reform and the progressive nature of a
democratic society.
Third, the Afghan opposition leaders also have a stake in shaping the course
of Afghanistan’s future. They must demonstrate to Afghans that individuals with
Afghan blood on their hands will no longer be part of a new chapter. Allowing
these nefarious characters to participate in political dialogue will afford the
Taliban an opening to delegitimize their genuine cause. The opposition must also
bring into their ranks many tribal elders and youth organizations that counter
Taliban terrorist ideology. The new generation of Afghans, especially students
who are introduced to the benefits of education are fundamentally opposing the
Taliban mindset and their Pakistani-innovated Islamic values.
Wahid Monawar is former Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the
United Nations in Vienna, Austria. He is currently an associate of Zurich
Partners.
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