As reported by Reuters, the Obama administration is close to a deal under which it would transfer five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison in exchange for a US soldier held by Taliban . The move is aimed at reviving Afghan peace talks.
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The soldier in question is Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl,
currently 26 years old, who is the only US prisoner of war. He
disappeared from his base in southern Afghanistan in June 2009 and is
believed to be held by Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan.
The
personalities of four out of the five Taliban prisoners have also been
disclosed. All of them are former high ranking officials in the Afghan
government that ruled the country from 1996 to 2001: Mullah Mohammed
Fazl, a former Taliban deputy minister of defense; Noorullah Noori, a
former top military commander; former deputy intelligence minister Abdul
Haq Wasiq; and Khairullah Khairkhwa, a former interior minister. The
identity of the fifth detainee remains unclear.
The
report of the administration's willingness to strike a deal with the
former enemy only once again highlights the open secret that has been
obvious for
any unbiased observer ever since the first stages of Western occupation
of Afghanistan. The West and its puppet regime in Afghanistan are
absolutely unable to achieve at least relative stability in the country.
The only force capable of doing so is the Taliban. Therefore, after
almost eleven years of war, negotiations are inevitable.
But
during these eleven years, both sides have committed so many acts
incompatible with any civilized principles of modern society, that
starting negotiations does not seem
to be an easy task. One of the most outrageous things done in the
course of the "war on terrorism" was undoubtedly keeping hundreds of
detainees in Guantanamo and similar installations, without any charge,
without any rights for which prisoners of war or detainees in regular
prisons would be eligible, and more often than not – on a mere
assumption that, being Muslims, the might be linked to some radical elements.
But it also seems that for
the West there is no other choice than to make friends with the former
foe. The announced withdrawal of troops in 2014 means only one thing:
the present Afghan government will not last long – not even as long as
Najibullah's government lasted after the Soviet troop withdrawal in
1989.
In recent years the West has exerted much effort to
build up military and defense capacities of Hamid Karzai's regime with
the aim of bringing the number of Afghan troops, police and security
forces to 350,000 by the end of the current year. While it still remains
doubtful whether this combined force will be able to cope with scores
times lesser military capacity of the Taliban, one thing is less
doubtful – that is, the probability of the majority of the
Western-trained army and police defecting on the next day after the
troop withdrawal.
The process has already begun. As
reported by the BBC on Monday, 11 police officers defected and joined
the Taliban in southern Helmand province. It is notable that it occurred
long before the troop withdrawal, and it is the second such defection
in less than a month – in late July, 14 policemen defected in western
Farah province.
The process has even reached the
highest echelons of power, where the West is losing its most faithful
supporters. On Sunday, Afghan parliament voted to fire Defense Minister
General Abdul Rahim Wardak and Interior Minister Bismillah Khan
Mohammadi. President Karzai tried to protect them and reappointed both
as acting ministers
on Monday, but on Tuesday General Wardak announced that he would
resign. What exact repercussions for the transition of responsibility from NATO to Afghan security forces this might have is not yet entirely clear, but the consequences are going to be rather grave.
As
for the exchange of five former Taliban officials for a US soldier
reported by Reuters, one thing might be advisable for the
administration. If and when it decides to wage a new war (actually, just
"when", since there is no question of "if") – be it with Syria, Iran or
whoever else, it should start a global hunt for the particular
nationals several months before the operation. Keeping dozens of
prisoners in a new version of a Guantanamo and then bargaining for their
exchange would definitely make the process of surrender easier if the
next campaign fails like the one in Afghanistan.
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