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International Forces Only Welcome in Kabul
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| “Foreigners
always come to our country with some ulterior motives. This
time it is no different.” |
By
Asif Farooqi, IOL
Afghanistan
correspondent
KABUL
, June 16 (IslamOnline) - Traditionally and culturally vehemently
opposed to every kind of foreign involvement with their affairs, the
Afghans have welcomed the foreign security forces under the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) flag with a pinch of
suspicion.
The
5000-strong ISAF troops are deployed only in and around
Kabul
to assist the interim administration with security. Led by
Turkey
, this mostly European force patrols the streets of
Kabul
and guards key installations, and in doing so, frequently comes into
contact with common people on the streets.
Easily
distinguishable by the vehicles they use for patrolling like armored
personnel carriers mounted with heavy machine guns, and sometime even
battle tanks, wearing the camouflage battle uniform, these western
soldiers usually get a cheerful nod and encouraging gestures from the
locals on the streets.
But
when you speak to the Afghans, they have a differently story to tell.
“It’s
good for the common Afghans to have the foreign soldiers here for our
defense but they always have their own agenda. Our defense is not the
priority but may be a necessity,” said Ajmal, a young guesthouse
employee in the Shahr-e-Nau, the main residential area of
Kabul
.
Many
of the Afghans in the streets of
Kabul
share this view.
One
university student, Faheem Ahmad, 24 years old, thinks that the
U.S.
government likes to dictate orders to the Afghan government. “They
[the
U.S.
] will immediately withdraw their support, and the security forces,
from
Kabul
if the Afghan government refused to obey their orders,” Faheem said.
“Foreigners
always come to our country with some ulterior motives. This time it is
no different,” said Ahmad Vali, a 55-year-ol restaurant owner.
But
there are many who are simply very happy to have people who can stop
the local warlords from making
Kabul
a battlefield once again. “We are happy that they (the ISAF) is
here. We feel safe because if they were not here, the war-game between
factions would have continued,” said Bashir Popalzai, an electronic
shop worker in a busy
Kabul
street.
“We
love them and request them not to leave us to the mercy of these cruel
warlords,” Arsla, a 22-year-old college student, whose elder brother
was killed in 1993 civil war, said.
Kabul
has long served as a battlefield between different Afghan factions
fighting to take control of the capital city, the symbol of
domination.
In
1993 different groups controlled different parts of the city, leading
to the shelling and bombing of city areas.
The
Hazara and the Shiite groups had the control over the western part of
the city; Rabbani, then president, was in central
Kabul
with Gulbudin Hekmatyar while northern forces attacked the city from
the east and the north.
A
stroll in the old
Kabul
city gives an exact idea how fierce and devastating this civil war had
been.
Not
a single structure is intact. Every roof is collapsed and there are
hardly any walls not ridden with bullets.
This
is the reason many believe that the residents of
Kabul
now have a soft corner for the foreign troops.
“People
in
Kabul
have gone through what could be called the most devastating civil war
in one single city anywhere on earth. They have witnessed the
destruction of their city at the hands of their own countrymen that is
why they trust ISAF more than their Afghan soldiers,” Abdul Rehman,
a 67-year-old retired civil servant, said.
Rehman,
like many others in the Afghan educated class feel that the ISAF
soldiers are unlikely to receive the same kind of applause and welcome
if they go to other places, especially rural areas where civil war did
not have that much devastating affects.
“I
tell them (ISAF) to take my advice. Do not go to the rural areas of
this country. It will be dangerous,” Rehman said.
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