Since the invasion led by the United States in Afghanistan in the year 2001, the nation has suffered a lot of violence. The violence started with the September 11th attack on the U.S. by the Al-Qaida. Afghanistan was the origin of the attack and thus U.S. troops were deployed to Afghanistan after the attack. U.S. military then overthrew the Taliban government leading to retaliations by the Taliban which have hitherto resulted to high levels of violence in Afghanistan.
Besides involvement by the U.S., the British government also sent troops to Afghanistan. The Taliban and Al-Qaida have also had unending conflicts along the Pakistan-Afghan border. They both accuse each other of being unable to keep militants away from each other’s side. This is in spite of the fact that the two groups are unanimous about keeping U.S. troops away from the Pakistan border (Norton 1).
The Afghanistan war has had tremendous effects on the security strategies and policies of the countries involved. This has led to prioritization of war intervention by both the U.S. and Britain. Both governments, therefore, feel obliged to win the war (Borger 1). Recent events related to the war have raised serious need for intervention that has led to a number of suggestions for ending the war.
Taliban troops are increasing each day. This has raised a lot of concerns about the willingness of the Taliban to try diplomacy. In response to this, the U.S. has sent 30, 000 troops to Afghanistan this year. This has led to a number of bombings, killing of militants and innocent civilians, killings of American and British militants carried out by the Taliban, etc.
Specific examples include the killing of civilians by a bicycle-bomb while receiving relief food, the British soldier who died on March 15, 2010, from wounds he sustained in the Helmand bomb, the 35 people killed in the March 14th Kandahar bombing meant to be a warning to Nato etc. The Afghanistan war has, arguably, escalated in the recent past due to the relentless efforts by the U.S. and Britain to contain the situation (Norton 1).
The American-British strategy for fighting Taliban troops is, seemingly, the training of forces to take over Afghanistan. However, this strategy is faced by major challenges since a lot needs to be done to change the prevailing situation. The change includes rebuilding Afghanistan from scratch, controlling the Taliban and establishing forces (national army). These changes are challenging due to the presence of war, warlords and ethnic rivalries (Borger 1).
One of the rebel groups, Hezb-i-Islami, has suggested a diplomatic solution to the problem. With the condition that the U.S. withdraws troops from Afghanistan by July, the rebel group has offered to act as a mediator between the U.S. and the Taliban. However, the influence of the group on the Taliban is suspected to be limited.
The group has also been holding talks with Afghanistan’s president, Karzai about the same and it has suggested an interim government and elections after withdrawal of troops. However, the U.S. prefers to contain the situation slowly with the hope for flexible demands forced by the successes bound to be achieved by the 30, 000 troops (Borger 1).
The war in Afghanistan has claimed a lot of lives. It is the responsibility of the diplomatic community to find amicable solutions that will end the war for good. Britain and America should completely withdraw troops and exercise diplomatic controls on the Afghanistan to ensure their safety.
Works Cited
Borger, Julian. “Afghan insurgents offer to make peace and act as a go-between with Taliban.” April 1, 2010,
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/24/afghan-insurgents-peace-bridge-taliban-us>
Norton, Richard. “Prince Charles visits British troops in Afghanistan.” April 1, 2010,
<https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/mar/25/prince-charles-afghanistan-british-army>