The war that leaked

Wikileaks makes it painfully clear that the Americans have completely lost their way in Afghanistan.

Nine years into their occupation and they’re still dependent on interpreters to interact with the local population. Nine years later, and they still think introducing a new field in a form to assess civilian casualties in an event gives them a handle — on how the war is being fought on the ground. Yes, nine years later what the documents released through Wikileaks make painfully clear is that the Americans have completely lost their way in Afghanistan. Panicked marines fleeing an IED attack cannot tell an insurgent from a teenage girl carrying a bundle of grass on her head; a provincial reconstruction team puts some money into an account and a label on a building saying ‘orphanage’, and are then surprised to find there are no orphans there in a subsequent visit. Landi Kotal is referred to as Landik Hotel. In case after case leaked through these documents, we see a bumbling occupation force that is operating blind and mute, unable to identify friend from foe, soldiers fighting only to save themselves, commanders struggling to understand the nature of the firefight they’re in the middle of. The list is endless.

The most telling sentence I’ve seen thus far in the documents I’ve scanned was from some grunt passing through a village who writes that his mission in Mamadi was a success even though the villagers, in his own words, "want nothing to do with US or ANA (Afghan National Army) forces." So what exactly was so successful about your mission, buddy?

But here’s the real dope on those leaks: less than 24 hours after they hit global headlines, the local papers in the US had already cut away from them. The Washington Post was headlining the politics of the energy bill, followed closely by the 17 billion dollar losses announced by BP. The Chicago Tribune preferred to go with a story on Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced former governor of the state of Illinois being tried for corruption. The main story in the Baltimore Sun was on the difficulties facing the city’s football team. The Philadelphia Inquirer led with a story on a lawsuit filed by a family against a school, and broke a story on a US Airways pilot, caught trying to take pictures under the skirt of a teenage girl. And you thought America was worried about its fate in Afghanistan!

In fact the Boston Globe was the only regional paper that even wanted to carry the story about the leaks any more, but only because of the tight position they have put Senator John Kerry in. The senator from Massachusetts is now facing pointed questions for his support of Obama’s strategy of escalation in Afghanistan and his strong support for increased engagement with Pakistan.

Inevitably, though, the fingers are pointed at Pakistan in a ritual that is becoming almost routine now. With friends like these, goes the common refrain. The editorial board of the New York Times once again warned the White House that the Afghan strategy is doomed to failure if it cannot persuade Pakistan to fall in line.

That may well be the case, but even a cursory look at the leaked documents is enough to realise that America’s goose is cooked in Afghanistan. And it’s time to admit that Pakistan gets only partial credit for this pathetic state of affairs. Are we entitled to ask why, after nine years of occupation, do the Americans still have such a shortage of officers who can speak Pashtu and Dari — languages they need to communicate with the very population whose hearts and minds they are trying to win over? Was investing in language training more expensive than building drone aircraft? Are we also entitled to ask why, after nine years of military occupation, the coalition forces are unable to develop a protocol to reliably track civilian casualties in their operations? It’s been nine years since America went to war in Afghanistan and the wheels of the US army are still skidding in the terrain there. Little wonder that Pakistan would seek to hedge its bets then, isn’t it? After all, with friends such as these.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2010.