M.D. Nalapat
Manipal, India —
If the Taliban are gaining ground in Afghanistan, the reason lies less in their
prowess than the daily errors made by their presumed foes – like NATO, an
organization that clearly swears on the altar of “rule by committee.”
From
think-tankers and journalists to retired diplomats and serving military
personnel, there is an abundant pool of "expertise" in NATO that gets
together to form policy. Within each subset the most extreme views prevail, as
do such views in the same individual at different points in time.
In times past,
those conducting operations in the field would get to decide on tactics rather
than be “remote-controlled.” But these days, NATO's field administrators as
well as managers need to conform to the dictates of superiors who come to
Afghanistan for less than a day at a time and spend most of it in a conference
room. In the process, they pull out dozens of individuals from their work, and
then most simply gaze out the window while the drone of talk continues.
What is NATO’s
objective in Afghanistan? Judging by their tactics, the inference is
inescapable that it is primarily to look good to their own people rather than
working out an effective response to the Taliban.
