New Delhi
3 May 2006
The Taliban does not find a mention in the United States Department
of State's "Country Reports on Terrorism 2005" released last week and many in that
country are wondering why.
The annual report, mandated by the US Congress, only gives the Afghanistan-Pakistan
border the status of a safe haven although it documents extensively the links between Al
Qaeda and its affiliates.
"Al Qaeda serves as a focal point of inspiration or imitation for a worldwide network that
is comprised of many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, including some members of ... the
Taliban," it reads.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asia Richard Boucher skirts
the issue. Determining a foreign terrorist organisation is a legal matter that is best left to
experts in Washington, he believes.
The official however concedes that the Taliban represents a threat to both Pakistan and
Afghanistan and also to the people of the United States and India. There should be no
doubt about the US view, he asserts.
The US-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) observes that the Taliban does not
appear on similar lists of terrorist organisations maintained by Britain, the European
Union, Canada, and Australia.
In a report on Washington's policy on the Taliban, the CFR quotes analysts as saying
that the Taliban is receiving support from Pakistan and that there could be a political
motive behind not proscribing it.
The CFR quotes Chistopher Langdon of the Institute for International Strategic Studies as
saying that the Taliban are not terrorists. Some like Amin Tarzi, the Afghanistan analyst
for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, disagree.
Tarzi sees a "political motive" behind "this double standard" and goes on to cite
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's decision to invite the Taliban to join his
government as a case in point.
"Steven Simon, CFR's Hasib J Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, says
Tarzi's explanation is plausible, "The designation of 'Foreign Terrorist Organisation' has
always been highly political," reads the report.
It quotes another observer as saying that the "US military obsession with Al Qaeda ...
[has] acted like a set of blinders to the real problem with the Taliban, and that this has
greatly disillusioned the average Afghan."
The debate about Washington's policy on the Taliban comes at a time when Pakistan
and Afghanistan have been ranked 9 and 10 in this year's Failed States Index published
by the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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