The Kandahar Massacre, what it means for US Afghanistan Relations


US troops have been stationed in various parts of Afghanistan since they were sent there first to find Osama Bin Laden and avenge the killing of thousands of innocent civilians in the 9/11 attacks on the WTC in New York, by the then US President, George W Bush. Thousands of lives have since been lost on both sides of the War Against Terror. Has the purpose of the US troops’ presence in Afghanistan been solved and have the relations between the US and Afghanistan become friendly and one of trust.

The War against Terror has become directionless

The main agenda of the war against terror launched by the Bush government after the 9/11 attacks was to capture the perpetrators of the crime and bring them to justice. Now since the death of Osama Bin Laden has become a reality after he was shot dead by US Marines in the heart of Pakistan, a close ally of the US in the war against Terror, the war seems to have lost its direction. There doesn’t seem to be a common purpose so that the war con be continued in Afghanistan.

 Shift of focus in the war on Terror

The focus of the war has shifted. Afghanistan that was the original focus of the war on terror, has now been sidelined and Pakistan has gained the status of the worlds’ most terror affected country. This has resulted in the change in the focus of the western world and mainly the United States towards making inroads into countries in the pretext of doing something or the other and result into the change in the regime of that country to a government that is pro-US in its stance and policies.

 Burning of the Quran

One of the worst thing that could happen to the Afghan US relations is the notion of the thinking in the minds of the Afghans that the west and particularly the US doesn’t care for the sentiments of the Afghans and the Muslim culture in general. This mindset has created a hiatus of trust between the common Afghan soldiers or

The recent turn of events in Afghanistan has turned the climate in that country totally hostile to the international troops stationed there. The series of incidents like burning of the Quran, video of US soldiers pissing on dead bodies of Afghans, and now the massacre n Kandahar.

 US soldiers’ hatred for local Afghans

The most recent of the incidents in Afghanistan that highlights the difficulties  faced by the US Afghanistan relations is the massacre of about 16 men, women and children in a village of Kandahar by a US soldier stationed in a nearby military camp – A soldier’s deadly march to massacre in Kandahar. The irony of the incident is that the notification to the camp commander about he soldier going on a rampage on innocent villagers was given by an Afghan solder who happened to see the soldier marching towards the village at a n un-usual time and alone. This shows the strain the US soldiers are experiencing in Afghanistan. There might be many reasons for such a mindless behavior of the soldier, but the reason that lies at the core of this incident is the hatred for local Afghans in the minds of the US soldiers stationed there. The recent protests and killing related to the burning of the Quran by some US soldiers along with some waste seems to have only worked to increase the hatred.

 

Handling all issues related to US soldiers’ atrocities on the local Afghans has been very luke warm and without any proper justice to the affected. The same seems to be the direction this case is destined to as there emerge report of the accused soldier’s plans to plead insanity before a US court – Accused soldier in Afghanistan shooting could face death penalty, plead insanity

 

The hatred and mistrust between the US and Afghanistan seems to be growing by the day and shows no signs of improving in the near future. The only thing that remains to be seen now is the US’s decision of pulling out soldiers from Afghanistan permanently in 2014. The direction the relations will take after the pullout can not be guessed as of now and is a matter of great concern for the whole world that has been watching the War on Terror with great anticipation and expectations.


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