{"id":117515,"date":"2021-08-26T22:37:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T04:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117515"},"modified":"2021-08-26T15:33:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T22:33:14","slug":"afghanistan-gives-the-world-an-emperor-without-clothes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/26\/afghanistan-gives-the-world-an-emperor-without-clothes\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan gives the world an Emperor without clothes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The\nworld needs an Emperor with full clothing to counter the increasing stridency\nof China. Unfortunately, the US has been progressively shedding its clothes\nbeginning perhaps with the defeat in Vietnam. The many military incursions that\nfollowed, all basically abject failures in improving the lives of the people of\nthe countries so invaded, has shown that US objectives have been flawed, and\nthe execution of such objectives, even worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nwonders however whether there is a dichotomy when it comes to these objectives.\nWere they meant to help the countries so invaded, were they purely to serve US\ninterests, or were they to serve the interests of a powerful lobby within the\nUS which has profited hugely on account of these futile military adventures.\nThe latter wants conflict, war, instability, corruption at the highest levels\nin the countries invaded in order to beget even more conflict and war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nthe invasions were for the benefit of the countries invaded, then during the\ntime of occupation, the people of the countries would have had an improved\neconomy, improved livelihoods for the people, a better health system, a more\nmodernised education system, infrastructure, political and democratic freedoms.\nIt is highly debateable whether any of the countries invaded passed muster on\nthese key fronts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afghanistan\ntoday is nearly 100% dependent on foreign aid to run the country, as it was 20\nyears ago. Reports say that Healthcare in Afghanistan is\nprovided by over 3,000 health facilities found throughout the country. The\ndecades of war and neglect by the world community has destroyed Afghanistan’s\nalready-poor healthcare system. In recent years, however, the country had\nsomewhat improved its healthcare system. Life expectancy rates are among the\nlowest in the world and 25% of children die before their fifth birthday.\nIn 2019, life expectancy at birth for women in Afghanistan was about 66.39\nyears, while life expectancy at birth for men was about 63.38 years on average.\nLack of basic health care and malnutrition contribute to the high death rates.\nAfghanistan has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNESCO\nsays that Currently, over 10 million youth and adults in Afghanistan are\nilliterate. However, it also says that since 2016, the country has made\nsignificant progress. While in 2016\/17 the literacy rate was at 34.8 per cent,\nthe UNESCO Institute for Statistics recently confirmed that is has now\nincreased to 43 per cent. However, other reports say it\u2019s around 28.1%. (https:\/\/www.infoplease.com\/world\/country-statistics\/lowest-literacy-rates<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nregards the economy of Afghanistan, Wikipedia says that while there have been\nimprovements over the last few years, it is still described as follows Despite holding over $1 trillion in proven\nuntapped mineral deposits, Afghanistan remains one of the least developed countries<\/a> in the world. Its unemployment rate is over\n23% and about half of its population<\/a> lives below the poverty line<\/a>. Many of the unemployed men join the foreign-funded militant groups<\/a> or the world of crime<\/a>,\nparticularly as smugglers<\/a>. The Afghan government<\/a> has long sought foreign investment in order\nto improve Afghanistan’s economy\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statements made by\nthe US and its allies that they invaded Afghanistan to prevent it from becoming\na haven for the Al Qaeda terrorist movement and not for the benefit of the\nAfghan people seems clear when one looks at the above statistics. A question\ncan be asked legitimately by the people of Afghanistan whether the price they\npaid for a decision they had no input or a say, was worth it, in getting the\nTaliban out of Afghanistan and for them to come back 20 years later, reportedly\nafter spending some 2 trillion dollars over this period with not much to show\nas an improvement to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Afghans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\ndoubt corruption and mismanagement has been one of the biggest contributors to\nthe lack of trust and confidence the people of the country had with their\npoliticians and government officials.  So\ncalled war lords from provinces entered Parliament and some became ministers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\ncorrupt government becoming more and more distant to the people, many of whom\nwere in poverty, and the US and allies seen as protecting the corrupt, provided\nample ammunition to the Taliban to establish themselves throughout the country.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nthere was increasing freedom for women during the past 20 years, in a country\nwith high illiteracy, it is possible that many Afghan men may have been\nsupportive of the Taliban as they too were not culturally supportive of freedom\nfor women. The younger, more educated, urban based men may have been supportive,\nbut they were a minority. The US, its allies and the Afghan government they\npropped, were not succeeding in winning the hearts and minds of people, and it\nwas a matter of time before the Taliban took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nissue before the US, NATO and Allies and what is called the free world\u201d, is\nnot just Afghanistan. It is the situation where this group has shown its\nimpotency in being able to halt the march of the not so free world of Islamic\nextremists, terrorist groups intent on achieving their objectives via violent\nmeans on the one hand, and the rising belligerence of China on the other hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nBuddhist philosophy, the doctrine of dependent origination or Patticca Samuppada\u201d\nunderpins ongoing human existence. It is about cyclical consequential thoughts\nand action that follows from present thoughts and action. This is a very\nsimplified statement, but it is just that simplicity that has a bearing on some\nof the reasons for conflicts arising out of the battles between the free\nworld\u201d and the not so free world\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nthe value of democracy, freedom and justice, and law and order existing or\nshould exist in a society that has the fundamentals mentioned is not in\nquestion, it is perhaps pertinent to ask whether such societies have been as\ninclusive as they have been portrayed to the world. It is also equally\npertinent to ask whether social and societal inequities and inequalities,\nexploitation of the less fortunate by the more fortunate does or does not occur\nin such countries, and what consequential actions follow as a result of it. Do\nthe structures and systems in such countries have avenues for the less\nfortunate, affected people to overcome feelings of helplessness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People\nwho are affected, and who do not feel the systems are able to address their\nsituation, could react in many different ways. Some may just accept it, some\nmay strive to find ways and means of overcoming such situations, and some may\ndo so using methods that are not conventional and outside the norms of the\nsocieties they live in. Amongst these different groups, there would be fertile\nground for extremist leaders, using tools such as extremist religious\ninterpretations, to recruit such disgruntled people. These could be consequential\nactions arising from the mental state of some people facing helplessness and\nhopelessness in societies. Poverty is rife in many democratic countries and\ncontributes significantly to the rise of extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSDC Applied Knowledge Services in a working\npaper from Stanford University\u2019s Centre on Democracy, Development and the Rule\nof Law suggests that the obstacles to the elimination of poverty are largely\npolitical. Poverty is generated and reproduced by power disparity and abuse.\nThe enduring reduction of poverty requires a broad context of good governance,\nbeyond the narrow arena of free and fair elections. The deepest root cause of\ndevelopment failure is bad governance \u2013 the inability or unwillingness to apply\npublic resources effectively to generate public goods. Good governance involves\nthe capacity and commitment to act in pursuit of the public good, transparency,\naccountability, citizen participation and the rule of law. Bad governance\nprevents the accumulation of the financial, physical, social and political\ncapital necessary for development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper goes on to say that Democracy should\nprovide a corrective to bad governance by holding corrupt, unresponsive or\nineffectual leaders to account and enabling citizens to participate in making\npolicy. The evidence on the relationship between democracy and development is\nambiguous, however. While authoritarian rule offers poor prospects for\nsustained poverty reduction, democracy does not offer any guarantee of good\ngovernance. The effectiveness of democracy in reducing poverty depends to a\ngreat extent on the type and degree of democracy. Democracy can be seen as\nhaving three dimensions: electoral competition, civil liberties and responsible\nand accountable government\u201d  https:\/\/gsdrc.org\/document-library\/moving-on-up-out-of-poverty-what-does-democracy-have-to-do-with-it\/<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two things are clear\nfrom this paper that firstly, democracy could be a very loose term and it\ndoesn\u2019t necessarily serve all people with equal measure when it comes to\ninequity, inequality, opportunity and it provides safeguards to the less\nfortunate when through natural occurrences or deliberate acts, the less fortunate\nand the marginalised are left behind, and secondly, the democratisation\nexperiment of Afghanistan did not work as it was not culturally attuned and\nfacile at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lesson hopefully\nfor the free world\u201d is to examine how these consequential situations occur,\nbefore they occur, and see how they can be avoided or mitigated. These need to\nbe done within historical and cultural contexts in different societies as one\nrule does not fit all. This is probably the single biggest reason for the\nfailure of US policy of successive regimes as cultural contexts have been rarely\nrecognised by policy makers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Emperor cannot\nwear more transparent clothes to cover its nakedness. The Emperor needs not\njust different clothes but more importantly, a different mindset to realise it\ncannot continue to walk around pretending there is no nakedness. This approach\nmust be firstly and lastly, based on giving a helping hand to countries in need\nof assistance to overcome poverty, to improve their health services, improve\neducation and helping them to stand on their own feet to improve their\neconomies, but within their cultural contexts. Democratisation has to be a\nprogressive exercise and based on conviction, and not introduced allowing   corrupt individuals to further their\npersonal nests. Placing military boots, guns and bombs in countries on the\npretext of helping them has to stop, as recent history in Vietnam, Iraq, Libya,\nand now in Afghanistan, has proven beyond any doubt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale The world needs an Emperor with full clothing to counter the increasing stridency of China. Unfortunately, the US has been progressively shedding its clothes beginning perhaps with the defeat in Vietnam. The many military incursions that followed, all basically abject failures in improving the lives of the people of the countries so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-raj-gonsalkorale"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117515\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}