States in crisis / Comment
Opportunities at the Afghan new scene
12/06/2008 By Juan Garrigues
Juan Garrigues argues that although it seems difficult to believe, given what is published in the press, there are also reasons to be optimistic about Afghanistan. The increasing frequency and violence of the attacks carried out by the insurgency, comprised of the Taliban and the international jihad network that nourishes it, is in the main a response to the important losses it has suffered in confrontations with international forces in 2006 and 2007. The insurgency has responded with a change in tactics, distancing itself from conventional warfare and, in turn, obliging the international community to modify its strategy.
The suicide attacks and the improvised explosive devices imported from Iraq, by the same international jihad network that operates in that country, have had a devastating impact: in 2007 more civilians were killed than in any other year since 2001.
After years of denial, the international community has finally accepted that it is fully implicated in a counter-insurgency effort in which the priority must be to win the support of the Afghan people, not to kill Taliban combatants. That is to say, to create security and support the government in Kabul in order that basic services are provided to the citizenry. For the insurgency, the objective is to impose the perception that Afghanistan is in total chaos.
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Afghanistan and Pakistan: a region in crisisKeywords
Afghanistan Al Qaeda Conflict Europe Middle East NATO Pakistan Terrorism United StatesBio author: Juan Garrigues
Juan Garrigues holds a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and an MA in International Studies from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
