Across the world there are now daily protests against the American troops stationed in foreign countries.
The latest spate of protests, and a spark in the latest killings of American troops, is the result of a couple of American soldiers in their military base throwing out a couple of confiscated Korans which were going to be burnt with the rest of the garbage. The Korans were saved from being burnt by some Afghan worker in the base.
The spark that was ignited by the news of the attempted burning has ignited a powder keg of resentment that has been building up in the Afghan people against a war that had been going on for the last ten years. They are tired of a government which cannot guarantee their safety or deliver any of the basic needs required to have a reasonable standard of living. The people also feel that the government is totally corrupt. The foreign troops are seen to be unsympathetic to their feelings and to be on the side of President Hamid Karzai who leads the inefficient and corrupt government. This has now resulted in the local population turning more and more to the Taliban who have for years been saying that the government and foreign troops are in cahoots to eradicate Islam in the Middle East.
Now we see thousands of Afghans streaming into the streets burning American flags (why not any of the other countries that also have troops there?) and shouting out that the American must all be killed!
What was to be an orderly withdrawal of all foreign troops by the end of next year after training Afghan troops, police and civil servants leaving behind a functioning democracy now seems to just a pipe dream. The unrest against all foreigners has united the local population in a common goal which in turn has resulted in chaotic violence destroying any chance of a peaceful withdrawal of the very troops they want to get rid of.
Western countries which have troops station in Afghanistan are being targeted and are powerless to stop the killing of their personnel by the very people they are supposed to be looking after. All civilian staff in the American, French and German military missions have been evacuated.
Now for those who follow history we have the making of another nightmare.
The French left Vietnam in 1954 after the battle at Dien Bien Phu where they really got their arses kicked by the communist forces. They were replaced by the Americans who really thought that after the Korean war they would be able to stop the communists from taking over in Vietnam. But in April 1975 it would be the turn of the Americans to beat a hasty retreat out of Vietnam with their tail between their legs. The evacuation culminated in Operation Frequent Wind, which was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. But that is another story for another day.
Now with protests against the Western Alliance spreading to other countries such as Pakistan are we going to see yet another hasty retreat by foreign troops? Is there any reason for them to stay in countries where the population don’t want them to be, should they not leave them to their own devices?
An interesting read can be found at :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon
paulsmusing2 