SOUTHASIA Online

Were you always a story teller? 

Oh yeah, always since childhood. When I told my mother ten years ago that I was going to leave my job as a lawyer to become a screenwriter, I was terrified that her reaction was going to be unsupportive and thought that she was going to say that “you’re insane” or that “you’re a Pakistani and this is a very risky career.” But my parents have been very supportive and strongly encouraged me to use my imagination.

	Coalition service member hands out medicine to Afghan children as part of a MEDCAP (Medical Civic Assistance Program) in the Khowst province on June 21, 2007. This is helpful for the men, women and children who need medical treatment. (U.S. Army photo by Sergeant First Class Michael Carter)

The War on Terror has delivered little, the US is fast losing patience and so are the people of Afghanistan. In this backdrop, events could take interesting new turns. Hamid Karzai's newly-found vocal criticisms pertaining to the “War on Terror” have managed to surprise only a handful of analysts. A man who is fast losing his title as 'Darling of the West' will resort to anything to secure his position. With elections looming in the very near future, Karzai's political statements and tactics will be monitored and analyzed very carefully by the rest of the world.

Mere days after Barack Obama took the presidential oath, criticisms of both Karzai and his government have been unsparing and plentiful. President Obama has accused, time and again, the Afghan government of being detached from on-the-ground realities and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has sweepingly stamped Afghanistan as a 'narco-state.'

Karzai himself has not exactly been a silent figure and has made public statements that have rubbed some US officials the wrong way. Speaking to CNN'S Fareed Zakaria, he declared that “the country is not in the same mood as it was in 2002,” perhaps taking a jab at the Obama administration, which is ready to deploy an additional 30,000 troops over the 33,000 that are already present in the country. In several moments during the interview, President Karzai spared no effort in hinting at the importance of public opinion in influencing political agendas.

On August 22nd, missile strikes were launched on intelligence from local clansmen in remote villages of Herat province and aimed to target a cluster of radical insurgents. Acting on the tip, U.S.-led coalition forces calling in quick-response airstrikes, which killed, instead, ninety civilians - including 61 children, 15 women and 15 men. So far, no mistakes: the victims were rivals of the clans-folk who initially tipped the U.S.-coalition forces. At least one party was happy with the results.

This is not the first time that "allies" planes make costly maneuvers in the Afghan skies to settle inter-clan feuds in far-flung villages, bombing to smithereens hundreds of civilians who might be celebrating wedding parties, mourning at funerals or gatherings for various community affairs.

In the present global political scenario, terrorism is a highly controversial issue and holds key significance in the contemporary international politics. In effect, the controversy exists over its nature, causes and consequences with no efforts by the politicians to come to any conclusive opinion on the subject. Notwithstanding this, terrorism is nowadays considered as a threat to global peace and security, especially in the aftermath of 9/11. True, while there is the problem with respect to defining terrorism, less controversy exists with respect to the “forms and manifestations” in which it takes place, and all such types are well documented by the United Nations.

It should be mentioned that the forms and manifestations of terrorism do not follow a stereo-typed pattern. The factors that lead to terrorism and the violence which characterize it are highly varied in nature. As a result, each pocket of terrorism varies from the other in its origin, types and methods. What then is the nature of terrorism in South Asia?

Paul Rieckhoff arrived in Baghdad May 1, 2005 to begin conducting operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The initial combat was over, but his infantry platoon of 38 national guardsmen inherited a more frustrating mission: to participate in counterinsurgency operations in order to stem the tide of violence in sections of Baghdad.

His eleven months in theatre were typical for the over one million United States soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who have participated in the global war on terror. In his seminal work, Chasing Ghosts: failures and Facades in Iraq, Rieckhoff explains with great detail the frustration of counterinsurgency as well as the constant motivation a platoon leader needs to get himself and his troops to complete their mission, stay task oriented, and deal with the thousands of people he encounters daily from a culture very few Americans know and understand.