Confusion as Europe Orders Troops to Afghanistan

[Diva]

Britain, France and Germany led European moves on Friday to send troops into Afghanistan , but there was confusion over whether they would actually be welcome when they arrived.

As the multi-national mission to protect the distribution of food to millions of needy Afghans gathered momentum, the victorious anti-Taliban Northern Alliance said it had not been told of the arrival of British troops and queried whether they should stay.

``Their arrival was not coordinated with us. Their arrival was their own decision and they did not inform us about this. Maybe they will go back,'' spokesman Mohammad Habeel told Reuters in the Afghan capital.

Ummmmm..... Anyone? Maybe they wanted to make sure it was safe first?

[Amaurote]

It is strange: Dr Abdullah Abdullah (below, top left of image), the Western-friendly Northern Alliance Spokemans for Foreign Affairs, has pretty much disappeared from our TV screens over the last few days; the week before last it was difficult to watch the news without seeing his venerable, bewhiskered face preaching sweet reason and vowing that the NA wouldn't enter Kabul until a political formulae for a broad-based government was found...never, never, never, never, never, not for all the chocolate doughnuts and sweet cotton candy in the world, oh no -never.

http://www.omaid.com/images/masood_Abdullah_Farhadi_EUpressConf.jpg

Now Kabul has fallen, we're seeing rather more of this venerable, bewhiskered face.

http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1997/international-reporting/works/5/general.jpg

His name is, of course, General Dostum, and his hobbies are flower-arranging, Three Card Monte and manacling captured Talebanis to the caterpillar tracks of tanks. He has thousands of battle-hardened followers who have been fighting all their lives for the liberation of their country and revenge for their displacement in 1996. A UN peacekeeping mission to Kabul would be very welcome, but how exactly are the European authorities - or indeed anyone else - going to win Dostam's support, or at least acquiescence , for their involvement? Whisky? Dancing girls? Rap music?

[usantic]

*Nods to Amaurote*

Yes, I've heard the same about this general. NOT some one that would welcome a broad based government. I vote they take him away. As far as Abdullah, he may be on the ground in country. There, as you will recall, Masoud was assasinated by a bogus film crew. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't be too anxious to give interviews there either.
Now, regarding his pledge not to enter Kabul, *wags a finger at Abdullah* Bad Abdullah, Bad! It has to be very easy to constrain troops from celebrating with civilians when they are welcomed by eubilant throngs that have cast off years of oppression.

[Jake]

Gentlemen, one question. Is this a 'ggod' thing... or a 'bad' thing?
In regards to the General, that is.

[usantic]

Bad thing Jake,
Dostum has a history of not being too pleasant of a guy when it comes to pow's or for that matter civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Amaurote]

I'd agree wholeheartedly with Usantic here, but with one caveat: Dostum never once entertained the thought of negotiating with the Taleban, not even at the nadir of Northern Alliance fortunes in 1996. Someone asked him what he was going to do as his army fell apart; he promptly snorted and observed that there was absolutely no way he would even consider negotiating with a Government which had outlawed whisky and music...that to me suggests a person of some spirit, though I admittedly wouldn't want to be the orderly who has to clean his tank treads....


Dostum is also an erstwhile Communist - you'll note that he constantly wears the uniform of the former Soviet army. Military government is highly unlikely at this stage, because the army is a fragmented, anarchic, uncohesive alliance rather than a homogenous bloc; if a military regime is formed it's more likely to be left-wing rather than right-wing, because armies in primitive, developing nations tend to be composed of progressives rather than obscurantists - military government becomes more right-wing the more progressive and socially diverse wider society becomes.