Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

2. Lessons from Afghanistan

13 LESSONS฀FROM฀AFGHANISTAN Lessons฀from฀Afghanistan 2 September฀11,฀2001,฀marked฀the฀beginning฀of฀a฀new฀millennium .1 ฀It฀was฀a฀traumatic฀event฀for฀all฀who฀lived฀through฀ it,฀even฀those฀who฀did฀not฀lose฀family฀or฀friends฀but฀merely฀ watched฀the฀tragedy฀on฀television.฀Not฀since฀the฀attack฀on฀ Pearl฀Harbor฀in฀1941฀had฀the฀United฀States฀been฀struck฀by฀an฀ enemy฀on฀its฀own฀soil.฀This฀particular฀enemy฀was฀not฀even฀a฀ nation-state฀but฀rather฀an฀international฀terrorist฀movement,฀al฀ Qaeda,฀inspired฀by฀a฀rigidly฀anachronistic฀version฀of฀Islam฀and฀ led฀by฀Osama฀bin฀Laden.฀Americans’฀initial฀shock฀and฀sadness฀ quickly฀turned฀to฀anger.฀Little฀time฀was฀spent฀reflecting฀on฀the฀ supposed฀reasons฀for฀the฀attack฀on฀the฀World฀Trade฀Center฀and฀ the฀Pentagon—namely,฀U.S.฀support฀for฀corrupt฀Arab฀regimes฀ such฀as฀those฀of฀Saudi฀Arabia฀and฀Egypt,฀as฀well฀as฀support฀for฀ Israeli฀policy฀with฀regard฀to฀the฀Palestinians.฀Talk฀of฀revenge฀ was฀rampant,฀and฀there฀was฀a฀sense,฀legitimate฀or฀not,฀of฀innocence ฀violated.฀Hatred฀of฀Islamic฀fundamentalism฀intensified,฀ and฀the฀belief฀in฀an฀inevitable฀conflict฀between฀Occident฀and฀ Orient,฀or฀what฀neoconservatives฀such฀as฀Bernard฀Lewis฀and฀ Samuel฀Huntington฀termed฀a฀“clash฀of฀civilizations,”฀gripped฀ the฀popular฀imagination.฀There฀was฀never฀any฀doubt฀that฀the฀ United฀States฀should฀seek฀retribution฀for฀the฀victims฀of฀9/11.฀ This฀was฀the฀context฀in฀which฀the฀United฀States฀decided฀to฀ bomb฀Afghanistan฀and฀overthrow฀its฀Islamic฀fundamentalist฀ leadership—the฀Taliban—which฀was฀openly฀protecting฀bin฀ Laden฀and฀al฀Qaeda. 14 PEACE฀OUT฀OF฀REACH International฀law฀does฀not฀deny฀a฀nation฀the฀right฀to฀defend฀ itself฀when฀attacked.2 ฀President฀George฀Bush฀insisted฀that฀ Afghanistan฀hand฀over฀every฀terrorist,฀close฀every฀training฀ facility,฀and฀give฀the฀United฀States฀the฀authority฀to฀carry฀out฀ inspections.3 ฀These฀were฀difficult฀demands฀for฀the฀Taliban฀to฀ accept.฀But฀rejecting฀them฀meant฀ignoring฀both฀the฀imperative฀ for฀action฀dictated฀by฀a฀national฀consensus฀in฀the฀United฀States฀ and฀support฀from฀an฀international฀coalition฀that฀was฀appalled฀ by฀the฀savage฀attacks฀of฀9/11.฀The฀Taliban฀clearly฀misread฀the฀ situation,฀and฀their฀diplomatic฀attempts฀at฀negotiation฀were,฀ according฀to฀one฀observer,฀like฀“grasping฀smoke.”฀Their฀efforts ฀were฀seen฀as฀a฀form฀of฀stalling.฀The฀Bush฀administration฀ wished฀to฀act฀quickly,฀and฀its฀desire฀to฀avenge฀a฀criminal฀act฀ against฀innocent฀civilians฀and฀bring฀the฀culprits฀to฀justice—if฀ not฀begin฀a฀“war฀on฀terror”฀against฀an฀ill-defined฀enemy—initially ฀seemed฀reasonable. Attacking฀Afghanistan฀did฀not฀eliminate฀al฀Qaeda,฀whose฀ transnational฀organization฀has฀appropriately฀been฀called฀a฀“network ฀of฀networks.”฀But฀the฀bombing฀of฀Afghanistan฀succeeded฀ in฀destroying฀a฀number฀of฀training฀bases฀and฀a฀barbaric฀regime฀ that฀had฀served฀as฀an฀important฀sanctuary฀for฀al฀Qaeda.4 ฀Militants ฀such฀as฀Osama฀bin฀Laden฀and฀the฀leader฀of฀the฀Taliban,฀ Mullah฀Omar,฀were฀forced฀to฀go฀underground,฀flee฀to฀remote฀ areas,฀or฀retreat฀into฀Pakistan.฀Soon,฀however,฀the฀United฀States฀ seemed฀to฀lose฀interest฀in฀finding฀these฀new฀celebrities.฀More฀ importantly,฀four฀thousand฀Afghan฀civilians฀were฀killed,฀tens฀of฀ thousands฀were฀wounded,฀and฀half฀a฀million฀were฀left฀homeless .5 ฀These฀numbers฀dwarf฀the฀numbers฀of฀Americans฀killed฀ and฀wounded฀by฀the฀assault฀of฀9/11.฀It฀forces฀any฀decent฀person฀ to฀at฀least฀consider฀what฀Albert฀Camus฀called฀the฀“principle฀ of฀reasonable฀culpability”฀when฀engaging฀in฀military฀action,฀as฀ well฀as฀the฀practical฀and฀moral฀costs฀of฀ignoring฀it. Whether฀this฀imbalance฀in฀sacrifice฀and฀lack฀of฀proportion- 15 LESSONS฀FROM฀AFGHANISTAN ality฀could฀have฀been฀avoided,฀or฀whether฀different฀military฀ procedures฀should฀have฀been฀undertaken,฀remains฀an฀open฀ question.฀Indisputable,฀however,฀is฀the฀fact฀that฀the฀Taliban฀ regime฀was฀willing฀to฀sacrifice฀its฀citizens฀rather฀than฀hand฀ over฀the฀criminals฀responsible฀for฀9/11.฀Parceling฀out฀guilt฀ always฀seems฀both฀grotesque฀and฀futile.฀But฀it฀is฀important฀to฀ understand฀that฀the฀Taliban฀was฀complicit฀in฀what฀transpired฀ in฀the฀nation฀it฀ruled.฀The฀burden฀of฀culpability฀does฀not฀fall฀ only฀on฀the฀United฀States.฀Nevertheless,฀given฀the฀lack฀of฀ proportionality฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀sacrifices฀made฀by฀the฀citizens฀ of฀Afghanistan฀and฀those฀of฀the฀United฀States,฀it฀is฀necessary฀ to฀highlight฀the฀importance฀that฀should฀have฀been฀attached฀to฀ the฀reconstruction฀of฀Afghanistan.6 Even฀after฀Kabul฀fell,฀the฀United฀States฀still฀possessed฀the฀ moral฀high฀ground.฀Its฀demand฀for฀justice,฀for฀the฀prosecution฀ of฀Osama...