The Interim Authority in Afghanistan reportedly has uncovered a plot to assassinate Hamid Karzai, the Interim Authority's Chairman and Mohammad Zahir Shah, the former King of Afghanistan. Reports by the Minister of Interior and the Kabul Police Department, both at the hands of Jamiat Party members, state that the leader of the Islamic Party, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar is behind the conspiracies. Hikmatyar's whereabouts, after the closure of his office in Iran, are unknown. Reports suggest that around 300 people who were arrested belong to Hikmatyar's party and evidence captured from them suggest a greater plot against the former King, the Loya Jirga and American and foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Another report revealed by the International Peacekeeping forces suggest that leaflets were distributed during the night promising sums of up to $ 100,000 for the arrest and assassination of foreign and US troops in Afghanistan.

The reports are disturbing for many reasons. They show the beginning of opposition to movements of peace and establishing of an administration, which would help bring normalcy to Afghan life. The perpetrators show open animosity with the people of Afghanistan and their hopes for a prosperous future. They further display the thirst for power by their leaders who would resort to any crime in order to gain a foothold in the country's political scene or to capture positions of leadership, not to help alleviate the pains of the nation, but to satisfy their own desire for power.

Yet there is another aspect to the whole issue of toleration of foreign forces by the Afghan nation. Afghans have perpetually resisted foreign domination and foreign military occupation. The two foreign military forces in Afghanistan today entered the country with the consent of the United Nations and some political factions. As a matter of fact the military intervention of the United States in Afghanistan was considered as a liberating act. In fact it was only after the extensive bombing by the US Air Force, that the Arab and other extremist forces of Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban military were defeated and the Afghan nation was presented with the gift of freedom from the yoke of a suppressive and reactionary regime. But in a post-Taleban era foreign military forces in Afghanistan need to play their cards cautiously by realizing that they are not forces of occupation and that they will only stay in the country until the campaign against terrorism is over. The US military has taken great pains so far to do just this. It has even refrained from being part of the International Peace Keeping forces. The US military has even resorted to psychological techniques in organizing its relations with the Afghans. In and around Bagram Air Base, the military is broadcasting radio programs heavily loaded with local music with military propaganda in favor of the allied forces and the Interim Authority in between. All this is good. However, there is one aspect of the military activity by the superbly armed US troops in Afghanistan that has caused some concern. That aspect is the United States military support of the local warlords. Other questions in this regard pertain to the futility so far of its search for the capture of Osama and Mullah Omar. The US opposition to the expansion of the size and terms of reference of the International Peace Keeping forces in Afghanistan beyond Kabul and into the provinces also seem to give rise to questions regarding the role of the US in the Afghan conflict. When this role is translated into the continuation of the function of the US military in Afghanistan, it can also lead to some degree of opposition.

But the fact is that the US forces did play an important role in the liberating of the country from Taleban and their so-called guests, who used Afghanistan for their expanded operations worldwide against the interests of the United States and Saudi Arabia. In order for the US to be looked upon as forces of liberation, it needs to plan its stay in Afghanistan pragmatically. It needs to share its plan and time-line regarding its troops in Afghanistan with the Afghans. It further needs to take a more active part in helping the Afghans keep peace and lay the foundation of a democratic and peaceful country ready not only to recuperate, but also the embark on a revival of its economic base and development. It should support world aid in peace keeping missions in Afghanistan as well as demilitarizing of the militia and factions in favor of a national army consisting of all ethnic groupings in Afghanistan. It should express clearly its opposition to warlordism that has caused wide spread devastation and hundreds of thousands of lives in Afghanistan.

In that capacity, it would continue to ride over popular emotions of appreciation and thankfulness and would thus help in preventing resent and antagonism. 4/5/02