To no real surprise, the recent Afghan elections proved violently partisan, tribalistic and, by many accounts, fraudulent.
This is quite telling of a nation that completed its first presidential election in its history in 2004. The cultural and political mindset of the Afghani people fails to fit into the democratic mold the U.S. wants.
With America’s attention now squared solely on healthcare, not many Americans are following the region that was once the crux of the War on Terror.
Before committing even more money ($32 billion since 2002) and more U.S. troops to what Mr. Obama has referred to as “the war of necessity,” the White House may need to come to the realization that Afghanistan will inevitably have to figure out its problems on its own. A country with origins dating back to the time of Alexander the Great, Afghanistan’s intensely tribal-centric social and political atmosphere has made it nearly impossible for the U.S. to mold the Islamic country into a quasi-democratic state, let alone a full fledged democracy.
As the war continually goes sour, the southern region of Afghanistan is almost entirely out of government control. What is even more disturbing is the ominous future of the country and its control of terrorism.
Although a primary reason for the fighting in Afghanistan was to ensure that al-Qaida would not have a haven to grow its ranks, it has not put a stop to the organization. Primary al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are currently surviving and running their operations from across the border in the tribal mountainous areas of Pakistan — a place upon which Western forces do not encroach.
Moreover, civilian casualties have exploded as of recent with more than 1,000 this year. Many Afghanis are growing resentful of U.S. forces in the region. But not all is lost in terms of public opinion with the Afghanis as a recent poll from the International Republican Institute showed most Afghanis remain optimistic on most issues, ranging from security to the economy.
However, the realization that U.S. policymakers in the region will have to realize is that the history of Afghanistan is a history of tribalism. In Afghan tribal society, similar to the defunct Ottoman enforced tribalistic system, the interest of the tribe will overwhelmingly prevail over the interest of the state.
Professor Nazif Shahrani, chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Central Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, said “Neither is President Hamid Karzai free from his own inherited tribal codes.”
Nazif, an Afghan native and intellectual, pointed out at a political forum hosted by the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research in Ankara that although Karzai helped lay some of the foundations of democracy he himself still distributes government positions and grant allocations to his tribesmen. Ultimately Karzai is just as much enclosed in the web of tribal politics as much as the next Afghani.
If there still remains any real proponents for a democratic Afghanistan among the Afghani people, then now is the time to clean house, rid themselves of corrupt government officials and reconcile and compromise with tribal leaders. A lot easier said than done.
You can reach Joseph at jhermiz@asu.edu.
