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[ English Section ] [ Feedback ] Published in issue #463 on 5 March 2001
APDA exhorts world to stop Taliban from destroying Buddha colossiA 27 February 2001 statement from the Association for Peace and Democracy for Afghanistan, the premier Afghan political organization in the West. Urgent Message from the APDA on the To: All international organizations and the free world A new and most devastating chapter is being written in the never-ending tragedy of the people of Afghanistan as Pakistan’s barbaric Taliban militia destroy our nation’s rich and ancient heritage by embarking on a ruthless campaign of cultural terrorism. Among the treasures threatened by the savage Taliban are the towering Buddha statues of Bamyan, colossi built nearly two thousand years ago during the country’s pre-Islamic era, which are among Afghanistan’s and the world’s supreme cultural monuments and an inimitable specimen of humankind’s awe-inspiring achievements. The Muslim and God-worshipping people of Afghanistan have safeguarded these paragons of civilization for nearly fourteen centuries as a symbol of their nation’s unique and magnificent history and not, in any respect, for idolatrous purposes. Patriotic and freedom-loving, the people of Afghanistan gave the greatest of sacrifices in defeating the Soviet Army, thus obliterating communism in their own country and also, by playing an instrumental role in ending the Cold War, giving the community of nations a peaceful world no longer threatened by the Red menace and nuclear annihilation. But the people of Afghanistan continued to suffer even greater calamities, as for the past six years the barbaric, retrogressive, extremist, xenophobic, radical and tyrannical Taliban militia -- products of Pakistan’s so-called religious schools -- have fully realized their role as foreign mercenaries through their attempt to eradicate the nation of Afghanistan by slaughtering its people and eliminating all traces of its history, culture, traditions, beliefs, and thus the very identity of the country. And the Taliban have been actively helped and fully assisted by their backers in every way and in each step of this genocidal war against the people of Afghanistan. The Association for Peace and Democracy for Afghanistan urgently calls upon all interested and knowledgeable persons of the free world, the United Nations, and especially UNESCO to take immediate action and use whatever means necessary to inhibit this feral deed that would render a dreadful blow to the cultural inheritance of Afghanistan and the entire world. Otherwise, the legal and humanitarian responsibilities of these international organizations will grow incomparably heavier as the people of Afghanistan, suffering a sundry of atrocities each and every day, continue their resistance and firmly stand against a multitude of foreign aggressors, in their noble and epic effort to preserve their country’s heritage, identity and existence. The Tragedy of the Afghan People and the Political Doctrine cum Diplomatic Philosophy of the New U.S. AdministrationSubmitted to Omaid Weekly, the following is a 15 February 2001 letter from prominent Afghan figure Dr. Nour Ali to Colin Powell, the new United States Secretary of State. Dr. Ali served as Afghanistan’s Minister of Commerce from 1965 to 1969, and currently resides in Maryland in the US. Mr. Secretary, You are well aware that Afghanistan has rendered an unprecedented and ineffable service to the universal cause of freedom by resisting with courage and determination the former Soviet Union’s armed aggression. In doing so she contributed significantly to relieve the minds of the “free world” from being haunted by the terror of the Red Army and its believed capability to reach the European Coast of the Atlantic in a very short period of time assessed in terms of a certain number of weeks if not days. However, you might be at the same time cognizant that the purpose for which Afghans resisted the aggression and suffered millions of martyrs is now farther than ever from being achieved. The effects of the Geneva Accords on the Settlement of the Situation Related to Afghanistan–concluded on 4/14/1988, as well as those of the relevant Resolutions of the UN General Assembly–are falling far short of meeting their objectives: The Afghan people are still denied their long-desired legal right for self-determination to choose the type of government they prefer; the country endures moving about in blood; innocent civilians are being brutally displaced or massacred; human rights violation are commonly occurring; material conditions of life are unbearable; the number of Afghan refugees are unpitifully growing; international terrorism is enrooting; drug cultivation and commercialization are prospering; scores of regional and non-regional powers are inflexibly interfering; and fanatic theocratic ideologies and militancies are obdurately thriving. Yet you may recall that Afghanistan has never been a place of propitious conditions for the generation and proliferation of these evils oppressing the Afghan collectivity, destabilizing the region, and threatening the security of the international community. Something must therefore have happened to turn the Afghan land from a country of peace and stability into a failed state harboring all sorts of aggressive and merciless warlordism and militantism. In the opinion of an overwhelming majority of Afghans, the predicament Afghanistan is facing ensues–setting aside the military involvement of the USSR–in the first place from the strategy the United States Government adopted in intervening in the Afghan War of Resistance and then from the Afghan policy it has been pursuing ever since the Soviet forces pulled out of Afghanistan. By conferring the authority of conducting the war to rival regional alien states, the United States has thereby and de facto alienated the Afghan people’s national sovereignty. By quitting the Afghan War’s arena and delegating the power of deciding the fate of the Afghan nation to the very same rival alien states, theU.S. has actually driven Afghanistan straight into its current misfortune, misery, adversity, and agony. All over the decade of the nineties every effort has been made to draw the attention of the esteemed Department of State to the plight of the Afghan people, but to no avail. However, Afghans, wherever they are, listened heedfully to the inaugural address of Mr. George W. Bush delivered on January 20th, 2001, soon after he was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States of America. Their attention has been struck primarily by these passages from the new President’s oration: 1) “Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation’s promise through civility, courage, compassion, and character.” America being the sole superpower in the world, the scope of application of this precept– as well as that of the others referred to herein later–cannot be limited to the relationship between its own governing and governed classes. It should be extended to the relationship between the U.S. and the rest of the world as well. Unluckily, as you may easily notice from the above succinct recalling, the American Government has treated Afghanistan, so far, neither with civility nor with courage nor with compassion nor with character. 2) “Some seem to believe that our politics can afford to be petty because, in a time of peace, the stakes of our debates appear small. But the stakes, for America, are never small. If our country does not lead the cause of freedom, it will not be led.” Unfortunately, the way America behaved and is still behaving towards Afghanistan is not corroborating this rule of conduct. As a matter of fact, the freedom of Afghanistan has been disregarded and violated by America and, because of America, in favor of America’s friends, Afghanistan’s foes. 3) “We must live up to the calling we share. Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos. And this commitment, if we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment.” Regrettably, in getting involved in the Afghan War of Resistance, the United States has not been moved neither by mutuality of trust nor by the community of interests with Afghans; its motive was grounded entirely on selfishness. Upon the defeat of the former Soviet Union, it abandoned Afghanistan so as to plunge it into chaos and to be devoured by the U.S. regional allies. The consequences of the achieved accomplishment has not benefited by any means the main partakers and victims of the war, the Afghan popular masses, the actual warriors, the real freedom fighters. 4) “Our national courage has been clear in time of depression and war, when defeating common danger defined our common good. Now we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us. We must show courage in a time of blessing, by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations.” Sorrowfully, in dealing with Afghanistan, the comport of the U.S. Government has been absolutely devoid of the courage the President is talking about. Pushing the country to sustain for years one of the most unequal and bloody wars of history exclusively for its owns sake, ignoring the aspiration of Afghans themselves, and then letting them down in disgrace and ostracism, is by no means courageous. Instead of confronting courageously and responsibly the U.S.-made Afghan dilemma, it passed it on contemptibly to Afghanistan’s enemies. It follows that with regard to the Afghans, Americans have not been abiding by the example of their fathers and mothers. They are, therefore, liable to condemnation by America’s history and its future generations. 5) “The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake. America remains engaged in the world, by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. We will defend our allies and our interests. We will show purpose without arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. And to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.” Incontestably Afghans resisted the Soviet aggression with the prime aim of salvaging their national freedom. Indeed America did get engaged into the Afghan War of Resistance. However, its engagement had not been aimed at shaping the necessary balance of power reclaiming the sought freedom of the Afghan people. On the contrary it hindered the liberation of Afghanistan in favor of the interferences and dominations of America’s regional allies. Washington has not done anything to defend the all-sides-assaulted people of Afghanistan. It failed and is failing to meet responsibly the aggression and the bad faith of the involved regional powers with resolve and strength. It has not spoken to them for the values that gave birth to the American nation. Regarding the Afghan people’s individual freedom, it is worth noting that almost all Afghan contemporary monarchs had been in blatant struggle against the advent of any clerical mode of government with its unparalleled religionism, anachronism, despotism and totalitarianism–to the extent that one of them (King Amanullah) lost his crown because of his program of social reforms dignifying the social status of the Afghan woman. It is an irony of history that the United States of America–in collaboration with its regional associates–installed in Kabul an irresponsible, ruthless, and retrograding warlordism, ending up as a full theocratical system of political power, abolishing most of the individual rights and liberties of the Afghan citizens, and imposing on them an incomparably repressive and humiliating way of life. The above segments of the President’s address are not the only tenets of the new U.S. Administration which have captured the imagination of Afghans. The following principles contained in your own statement, made to the attention of the foreign service officers and civil service employees of the State Department, on Monday, the 22nd January 2001, have also impressed them deeply. 1) “We are going to show a vision of the world of the value system of America, what we are all about, what democracy and freedom is all about. It works, the other system does not work.” 2) “We are going to talk about these values all the time and hope that it is the light that we send forth that will influence people around the world.” Unhappily, the experience of Afghans with America, in the field of the referent U.S. value system, also has been very disappointing. The U.S. Administration has given to Afghans its guarantee solemnly as a pledge for the realization of their right for self-determination, but has denied to honor it as yet. In place of meeting its promise it is turning a deaf ear to the claim and clamor of the Afghan people by concealing itself behind the UN, OIC, or the illusive peace plans of Rome, Cypress or Bonn. It is therefore very hard to convince Afghans that the United States has been, thus far, a bona fide advocator and promoter of virtuous values including freedom and democracy. These are the commentarial messages that Afghans, particularly the members of the educated class, are conveying plaintively to you and through you to the President in relation to the President’s national/international political doctrine and to your goodself’s diplomatic philosophy. I hope you may now realize that the policy the U.S. Government has been pursuing during the last decade, with respect to Afghanistan, is not consonant with the values you and the President are stressing. The course of events demonstrated that such policy has been, at the same time, contrary to the national interest of America both politically and economically: The international credibility, the prestige and the image of the United States is affected adversely and seriously; her design to partake in developing energy-rich Eurasian global transit and trade corridor through Afghanistan has not yet materialized. Internationally it is believed that the trustworthiness of America is, at present, at an all-time low. Given its unchallengeable military and economic strengths, the world is dire need of an American diplomatic strength based on “civility, courage, compassion, character, and responsibility,” restoring the U.S. Government’s international credibility and reliability and thereby somehow legitimizing its de facto extraterritorial leadership. Otherwise the near future of humanity at-large will be in danger. It should be, however, emphasized that Afghanistan is one of the main mirrors of America’s achievement in terms on the sought values. As long as Washington has not settled the dues and the claims of the Afghan people, it is impossible for it to persuade the world community that the United States is a “nation of character,” showing “purpose without arrogance.” According to the considered opinion of many people in many places, the doctrine of the President G. W. Bush as well as your own philosophy came up in good time for coping with the exigencies of the circumstances both within and without the United States of America. Afghans have taken them as a good omen, hoping for their translation from words to deeds as soon as possible. The undersigned has presented to your predecessors, since the early nineties, numerous analytical papers on the situation in Afghanistan in an attempt to voice, plainly but frankly, the concerns of various strata of the Afghan society. The latest outlines a scheme for the formation of a “Special Model of Provisional Government for Afghanistan.” The proposed scheme, if adopted, may believably contribute to the resolution of the Afghan quagmire by satisfying the lawful aspirations of the Afghan people while meeting the legitimate national interest of America. A copy of the same is attached herewith. It is hereby submitted for your consideration and appropriate action. Should further elaboration or clarification be required, you may feel free to call upon me. I’m prepared to cooperate as fully as possible. Your response at your earliest convenience will be highly appreciated. Yours sincerely, *From this week's English-language page
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