Ossama and the future of the Afghans

The story of Ossama Ben Laden is one that is not going away from newspaper headlines and television commentaries any time soon. Last night again, BBC reported that he had financially assisted the Muslim community in southern Philippines. Some Muslim leader in Mindanao has admitted that they have received monetary help from Ossama which will be spent in developmental projects and not on the acquisition of arms. Yet, BBC believes that quantities of new armaments could not be acquired by the guerrillas who are seeking the creation of an Islamic State in southern Philippines, if it were not with the financial assistance of some one or some group.

The US government sources have been talking about taking any measure deemed necessary to protect American life and property from terrorists anywhere in the world. That would most surely include attack(s) on Afghanistan, any time they choose, just because Ossama is a terrorist in their eyes and is living in Afghanistan.

Recently high ranking members of the US State Department and the British Foreign Office met and issued warnings to representatives of the Taleban Foreign Ministry that they should do something about Ossama's continued and prolonged stay in Afghanistan.

If Ossama helped the Afghans fight the Russians, that was all good and fair and we sure do appreciate his and others' help in that dark era of Afghan life. But now that the country is rid of direct outside interference, we would like for Ossama to look for, and assist, some other hot spot. Thanks to the arms producing countries and their constant striving to create circumsatances to sell their commodities, there is no dirth of other places and countries on this earth where Ossama could help.

Pakistan, too, is under pressure by the US to use her good offices with the Taleban and press for Ossama's ouster from Afghanistan, or better yet, somehow get him out of Afghanistan and hand him over to the US.

Taleban are facing many problems emanating from many quarters:

Iran still has a massive army stationed along the Afghan border and is still demanding punishment for the killers of nine `diplomats' and one reporter in Mazar e Shareef last August. Iran says nothing about why were these so-called diplomats in Mazar -- an Afghan city in northern Afghanistan --when their Embassy in Kabul and their Consulate in Heart (western Afghanistan) have officially remained closed and the Rabbani Government has no seat anywhere in the country.

Iran's interest in northern Afghanistan was due to her interest in stopping the flow of gas and oil from the Commonwealth of Independent Countries, through Afghanistan , to Pakistan. We all remember that at one time Iran had almost closed the deal for oil and gas pipelines to go south through northern Afghanistan and then west into Iran and then again south to some port city in the Gulf. But something went awry and that scheme failed.

Iran openly speaks of her disagreement with Taleban ruling all of Afghanistan mainly because the Taleban are Sunnis and, according to Iran, they do not like the Afghan Shiite population. That is why Iran is supporting the Uzbek and Tajik population of northern Afghanistan militarily and sending immense quantities of arms and ammunition to them for use against the Taleban. One train, full of military supplies, was captured by the Kazakhstan authorities, checked, and after several weeks, returned to Iran. We also know that Iran airlifted huge quantities of military equipment to Bamian for use by the Shiite population against the Taleban.

Pakistan is playing a double role with the Taleban. On the one hand, she has helped the latter militarily with equipment and advisers. She has also `allowed' thousands of Pakistani religious schools' students to enter Afghanistan and "help" the Taleban in their battle with the opposition forces. On the other hand, Pakistan opposes any religious practices in Pakistan similar to what Taleban are meting out to Muslim Afghans in Afghanistan. Pakistan has not stopped any females from working in various fields of endeavor, be they hospitals, offices or factories. Pakistan continues to allow females to get proper education up to, and inclusive of, university level education in any field of their choice.

If Pakistan supports the practices of Taleban, why is she not following the same in her territory? If she frowns upon what the Taleban are doing in her country, then why is she not advising her `friends' against pursuing those practices in Afghanistan?

Pakistan tells the West that she is not helping Taleban; that she hates the practices of Taleban (through the Pakistani press); that she agrees with the UN, the OIC and all others that any future hope for a peaceful Afghanistan lies in the establishment of a broad-based government. I have even heard that she has been talking with the northern coalition for whatever reason she may have.

We all know why Pakistan vied for gaining and maintaining influence over the Taleban -- to facilitate the oil and gas pipelines project, through Afghanistan, into Pakistan. As soon as she comes to the realization that the gas pipeline project is not feasible, she is more than likely to dump the Taleban, especially if she thinks she has already accomplished her other scheme -destroying the possibility of any future threat upon what she thinks is her territory, from the Afghan side.

The agencies of the UN and the many non-governmental organizations that were helping the poor and helpless people of Afghanistan have long since gone and it has been a hassle to bring them back. Taleban, who have no financial resources, are unable to help anyone even in emergencies. If they won't improve their human rights status with regards to women, there is great doubt that UN would come back to assist the Afghans in the Taleban-controlled areas of the country. To date, no new country or government has recognized the Taleban. Of the three countries that have, Saudi Arabia has already recalled her diplomatic staff from Kabul and asked the Taleban diplomats to leave that country. Just how are Taleban thinking of carrying on a life of isolation at a time when the world political and economic situations have shrunk the world so much? We live in a time of world interdependence.

At home in Afghanistan, Taleban have done little to make themselves stand out as a body of people to be looked up to. There are those who claim that Islam is being hurt by their strict observance of Islamic laws. What they are doing is causing themselves to be shunned by those whom they want to lead into a period of peace and congenial life. Wouldn't it be wiser to lower their demands on the people they rule and seek out help from all quarters to improve the current lamentable life of the Afghan nation?

We need roads and highways. We need heating facilities in winter. We need clean water.We need electricity. We need to re-establish what little we had of small industries. We need mine-free agricultural land. We need reforestation. We need shelter for our homeless population. Can Taleban provide any of these by themselves? If so, let us know what they have accomplished so far? If not, then why is it that Taleban have not facilitated help to reach us from abroad for some, or all, of our current dire needs?

Let it be mentioned here that no segment of the northern coalition can be relied upon to do any better. What did Rabbani and his followers do for Afghanistan when they usurped it several years ago? Can any one give us even one example of the improvement he brought to Afghanistan during his rule over Afghanistan? Did not the so-called `Lion of Panjsher', Masood, loot Kabul when he was in power? Did the Dostum clique not run down entire villages, looting and burning everything, upon the request of the then communist regime in power in Kabul? Did not Gulbuddin destroy the beautiful capital of Afghanistan when he was a Prime Minister, even if in name only? Even, today, is any part of Afghanistan safe from ground and air missiles and destruction by any one of the warring parties? Isn't it time to sit down and rethink our programs and policies and begin to help the Afghans in general, rather than only ourselves and our interests ?

Isn't it time that this long time guest of the Taleban, Osama Ben Laden, realizes that his stay in Afghanistan endangers life for all Afghans, and it would be really an act of friendship to thank his hosts and leave Afghanistan with a cheerful "ma'assalamah"? I believe that Osama is a wise and intelligent man and knows the magnitude of the problems that Afghans have to solve before they can even reach the level of life they enjoyed prior to the communist influx. He can appreciate that Afghans do not need to add more to those problems. It would be only fair if Osama packs up his gear and leaves us to gradually remove the obstacles in our way to a peaceful life again. We are well-known as a hospitable people and would love to play host to him and his family again under somewhat better circumstances than those which prevail today.