Afghani-Stand-Up-For-Yourself

Today I read an article in the New York Times (8/27/08, 'Taliban gains new foothold in Afghan city", Carlotta Gall) about a Taliban conspired attack on an Afghan prison in Kandahar in June.  A white fuel tanker was parked in front of the prison and minutes later fired on with a rocket-propelled granade by Taliban members.  The man who parked of the tanker, who walked away laughing, was fired on by prison guards.  They missed the assailant and managed to shoot and kill a local shopkeeper's son as the father helplessly looked on from across the street.

The prison's walls were blown apart and, with many prison guards dead, 900 prisoners were able to escape.  The kicker: 350 of these prisoners are Taliban members.   Although the attack is a tragedy in itself, the following actions, or should I say lack thereof, by Afghan police and security guards was the true tragedy.  Or rather the faulty security infrastructure.  For example, the night of the attack there were 10 guards to look after 1,400 prisoners.  Five of those guards were killed in the attack and over half of the inmates escaped. Canadian forces hired and trained the security guards but failed to put any barriers or blast walls near the entrance that may have prevented this sort of explosion.

That's only the beginning.  Police reinforcements only showed up on the scene once the escaped Taliban members were long gone, and police at a nearby checkpoint began running away from their posts when they learned what was happening.  A by-stander mentioned that only 20-30 police could have stopped the escaping Taliban members, but the city police chief and his forces instead stood nearby and approached only after the escapees were long gone.

This may seem like elaborate conspiracy to some, but to the Afghans interviewed in the article, these types of issues are causes of a lack of resources or a lack of leadership.  One government official pointed out that the provincial governor was out of town that night, leaving the city without good leadership.  

Why is it that Afghanistan's police forces are still being bullied by the Taliban?  How can anyone expect the country to successfully govern itself when one of the things it needs most for effective government right now--security forces--runs away from their posts when they are needed there the most?  The United States may have been successful in taking the Taliban out of power, but where is the follow up?  What kind of affect does this have on the psyche of the Afghan population?  To see your police running away from the Taliban, leaving their posts and fleeing...where are you likely to put your loyalties?  And what about those still fighting against the Taliban...what protection is there for them?

How can Afghanistan rebuild itself when there is shoddy security infrastructure (at best) and a blanket of fear wrapped around the police and security forces?  It makes me really wonder what we're doing in Iraq and what similarities we can expect from that country.  But I won't open that can of worms tonight.