NATO heads of state and government yesterday agreed to a significant increase in troop levels in Afghanistan in the run up to the Afghan general election in August.
The decision followed strong words from outgoing Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and a
n appeal from US President Barack Obama for Europeans to do more on the eve of the 60th Anniversary of NATO’s inception.
Germany and France have agreed to each send an additional 600 troops, the UK a further 900, whilst the US will send 21,000 extra troops to bolster the existing 58,000 strong force. Additional support is also expected to come from Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Poland, Turkey and Croatia.
However, these forces cannot and should not be used to bolster and support a government that implements retrograde repressive policies in its push (ironically) to secure the democratic vote of the conservative leaders of the country’s Shia minority.
On 2 April 2009, Afghan President Hamad Karzai signed into law draconian legislation banning women from leaving the home without permission, legalising child marriage and sanctioning marital rape.
NATO forces have been vital to improving the security situation in Afghanistan, not least through their training of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and countering the insurgency in the country. Without this support, the Afghan government could not have negotiated better relations with the Pakistani Government, which has led to improved military co-ordination along the border, nor to have improved the country’s infrastructure in the way that it has been able to do.
Though the ANSF has now taken full control for security in Kabul and has grown in strength and capability generally, President Karzai is fully aware of the need for continued international assistance if his government is to succeed. Consequently, the international community must use this position of influence to insist that President Karzai does not abuse his position by passing legislation reminicent of the policies of the Taleban that his government replaced.
The increased NATO presence in the run-up to the general election in August is to be welcomed, but only so long as these forces are not used to prop up a government that decreases as opposed to improves the state of Afghan civil liberties.
THE LAWS
Article 27 The age of maturity (and thus marriage) is 15 for boys; for girls it is when they have their first period
Article 132 The couple should not commit acts that create hatred and bitterness. The wife is bound to preen for her husband, as and when he desires. The husband, except when travelling or ill, is bound to have intercourse with his wife every four nights. The wife is bound to give a positive response
Article 133 The husband can stop the wife from any unnecessary, un-Islamic act. The wife cannot leave the house without the permission of the husband
Article 177 The wife does not have the right to the provision of maintenance by the husband unless she agrees to have intercourse with him and he gets an opportunity for doing so