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When Afghans Look to Border With Pakistan, They Dont See a Fixed Line
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: October 28, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan It is perhaps a measure of the growing anxiety in Afghanistan that an American envoys seemingly innocuous comments about a border first laid down in the 19th century could provoke a week of defiant missives from Afghan officials and fearful murmurings about conspiracies being hatched in Washington and Islamabad.
The contentious Durand Line separating Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ahmed Barakzai, a Kabul jeweler, summed it up well: With Americas departure looming, Afghans know they are entering a dangerous time, he said between bites of fish at a crowded restaurant. The men around him all nodded.
The issue of the line, as he called the border, may be minor to the rest of the world. But it shows us we have friends who we cannot trust, said Mr. Barakzai, 43. Everyone listening knew he meant America, and they kept nodding.
The border, of course, is no simple boundary: It is the Durand Line, named for the British colonial official who drew it up to separate Imperial Britains Indian possessions from Afghanistan dividing traditionally Pashtun lands between Afghanistan and what would later become Pakistan. To the world at large today, the line, however contentious, is official.
Just dont say as much to Afghans. Ambassador Marc Grossman, Americas special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, learned this the hard way last week when asked by an Afghan television reporter whether the United States agreed that the lands beyond this border, the Durand Line, are the lands of Afghanistan.
Mr. Grossmans answer the border is the international border has been American policy for decades. Afghanistans claim to a large chunk of northwestern Pakistan, which it believes the British stole, is taken seriously only in Afghanistan.
So Mr. Grossman moved on, segueing into the need for more regional cooperation diplomat-speak for better ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
If only it were that easy. Mr. Grossmans comments quickly became headline news in Afghanistan, and remained so for days. The Foreign Ministry, which knew Mr. Grossman had said nothing new, nonetheless jumped on the comments, calling Washingtons position irrelevant.
The status of the Durand Line is a matter of historic importance for the Afghan people, it said in a statement.
President Hamid Karzais spokesman, Aimal Faizi, also expressed pique in a message marking Id al-Adha, the Islamic holiday that began Friday. May almighty God bring peace, security and unity to Afghanistan, particularly to both sides of the Durand Line, the spokesmans office said in a statement.
Mr. Grossmans comments, delivered at a time when Afghans are particularly apprehensive about their countrys future, hit a tender nerve. Increasingly, and openly, Afghans have been debating the limits of what they can expect from the United States, an ally that is often both reviled here and seen as a needed benefactor and protector.
Compounding the insult, in the Afghan view, is that the United States is taking the side of Pakistan, whose government is seen as harboring or even aiding Taliban and Haqqani militants waging the insurgency in Afghanistan who are sheltered in the territories cut off by the Durand Line.
For the Afghan side, there was always this expectation that if we involved the U.S. deeper into Afghanistans issues, it was going to lead to a solution of the problem with militant extremism from Pakistan, said Haseeb Humayoon of QARA Consulting, a policy advisory firm in Kabul.
But now, he added, the United States is pulling back, and the problem remains.
The sense of dashed expectations is palpable, and hopes are increasingly being replaced with conspiracy theories. Though such theories mirroring those often heard about the United States on the Pakistani side of the border, if slightly less energetic have always been whispered here, they are picking up volume as the American withdrawal nears.
Mr. Barakzai, the jeweler, speculated that Mr. Grossmans comments stemmed from a secret deal between Washington and Islamabad to subjugate Afghanistan a twist on Pakistani paranoia that Americas war in Afghanistan has been nothing more than a pretext to deprive Pakistan of its nuclear arsenal.
Did he believe it? He was not sure, nor were the other men who had joined in the conversation. But they had questions: Is America really leaving? What, then, does Washington want to leave behind? Who are Americans really listening to?
Most insisted they were among the Afghans who had welcomed the United States intervention against the Taliban in 2001. They were certainly of the class that had benefited from the resulting American-financed prosperity, which may be meager by Western standards but was unimaginable here only a short time ago.
But now Afghans do not know what is the real plan of America for our country, another man said.
Maybe there is no plan? No, they all agreed, not possible: The United States is too powerful to be operating without a plan.
The talk was more than idle kebab shop chitchat. Abdul Hamid Mubariz, a former deputy minister of information and culture who is hardly anyones idea of an anti-American firebrand, said similar speculation was rife within government circles as well.
We dont know what the Americans are doing to be interfering in the Durand Line issue, he said. Is there a hidden agenda behind this? Afghans are feeling betrayed.
He did not believe in an active conspiracy against Afghanistan. Rather, in his view, American officials, ignorant of the details behind Afghanistans claims, were encouraged and convinced by Pakistan to raise the Durand Line issue and announce it internationally.
After all, Mr. Mubariz said, Mr. Grossman had stopped in Pakistan before coming to Afghanistan.
No matter the American intent, the conclusion is obvious for Afghans: America is not to be trusted, he said. Now we understand that whatever President Karzai was doing or saying against the West, he was right.
Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan.
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: October 28, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan It is perhaps a measure of the growing anxiety in Afghanistan that an American envoys seemingly innocuous comments about a border first laid down in the 19th century could provoke a week of defiant missives from Afghan officials and fearful murmurings about conspiracies being hatched in Washington and Islamabad.
The contentious Durand Line separating Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ahmed Barakzai, a Kabul jeweler, summed it up well: With Americas departure looming, Afghans know they are entering a dangerous time, he said between bites of fish at a crowded restaurant. The men around him all nodded.
The issue of the line, as he called the border, may be minor to the rest of the world. But it shows us we have friends who we cannot trust, said Mr. Barakzai, 43. Everyone listening knew he meant America, and they kept nodding.
The border, of course, is no simple boundary: It is the Durand Line, named for the British colonial official who drew it up to separate Imperial Britains Indian possessions from Afghanistan dividing traditionally Pashtun lands between Afghanistan and what would later become Pakistan. To the world at large today, the line, however contentious, is official.
Just dont say as much to Afghans. Ambassador Marc Grossman, Americas special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, learned this the hard way last week when asked by an Afghan television reporter whether the United States agreed that the lands beyond this border, the Durand Line, are the lands of Afghanistan.
Mr. Grossmans answer the border is the international border has been American policy for decades. Afghanistans claim to a large chunk of northwestern Pakistan, which it believes the British stole, is taken seriously only in Afghanistan.
So Mr. Grossman moved on, segueing into the need for more regional cooperation diplomat-speak for better ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
If only it were that easy. Mr. Grossmans comments quickly became headline news in Afghanistan, and remained so for days. The Foreign Ministry, which knew Mr. Grossman had said nothing new, nonetheless jumped on the comments, calling Washingtons position irrelevant.
The status of the Durand Line is a matter of historic importance for the Afghan people, it said in a statement.
President Hamid Karzais spokesman, Aimal Faizi, also expressed pique in a message marking Id al-Adha, the Islamic holiday that began Friday. May almighty God bring peace, security and unity to Afghanistan, particularly to both sides of the Durand Line, the spokesmans office said in a statement.
Mr. Grossmans comments, delivered at a time when Afghans are particularly apprehensive about their countrys future, hit a tender nerve. Increasingly, and openly, Afghans have been debating the limits of what they can expect from the United States, an ally that is often both reviled here and seen as a needed benefactor and protector.
Compounding the insult, in the Afghan view, is that the United States is taking the side of Pakistan, whose government is seen as harboring or even aiding Taliban and Haqqani militants waging the insurgency in Afghanistan who are sheltered in the territories cut off by the Durand Line.
For the Afghan side, there was always this expectation that if we involved the U.S. deeper into Afghanistans issues, it was going to lead to a solution of the problem with militant extremism from Pakistan, said Haseeb Humayoon of QARA Consulting, a policy advisory firm in Kabul.
But now, he added, the United States is pulling back, and the problem remains.
The sense of dashed expectations is palpable, and hopes are increasingly being replaced with conspiracy theories. Though such theories mirroring those often heard about the United States on the Pakistani side of the border, if slightly less energetic have always been whispered here, they are picking up volume as the American withdrawal nears.
Mr. Barakzai, the jeweler, speculated that Mr. Grossmans comments stemmed from a secret deal between Washington and Islamabad to subjugate Afghanistan a twist on Pakistani paranoia that Americas war in Afghanistan has been nothing more than a pretext to deprive Pakistan of its nuclear arsenal.
Did he believe it? He was not sure, nor were the other men who had joined in the conversation. But they had questions: Is America really leaving? What, then, does Washington want to leave behind? Who are Americans really listening to?
Most insisted they were among the Afghans who had welcomed the United States intervention against the Taliban in 2001. They were certainly of the class that had benefited from the resulting American-financed prosperity, which may be meager by Western standards but was unimaginable here only a short time ago.
But now Afghans do not know what is the real plan of America for our country, another man said.
Maybe there is no plan? No, they all agreed, not possible: The United States is too powerful to be operating without a plan.
The talk was more than idle kebab shop chitchat. Abdul Hamid Mubariz, a former deputy minister of information and culture who is hardly anyones idea of an anti-American firebrand, said similar speculation was rife within government circles as well.
We dont know what the Americans are doing to be interfering in the Durand Line issue, he said. Is there a hidden agenda behind this? Afghans are feeling betrayed.
He did not believe in an active conspiracy against Afghanistan. Rather, in his view, American officials, ignorant of the details behind Afghanistans claims, were encouraged and convinced by Pakistan to raise the Durand Line issue and announce it internationally.
After all, Mr. Mubariz said, Mr. Grossman had stopped in Pakistan before coming to Afghanistan.
No matter the American intent, the conclusion is obvious for Afghans: America is not to be trusted, he said. Now we understand that whatever President Karzai was doing or saying against the West, he was right.
Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan.
