Wikileaks and Afghan war

Reports of a Nato rocket attack on a village in the Sangin area of Helmand province, reportedly killing about 40 civilians last Friday and the deadly roadside bombing in southwestern Afghanistan on Wednesday in which 25 civilians died show state of affairs in Afghanistan. The two tragic incidents coming close on heels of the stunning disclosure of some 92,000 previously secret Pentagon documents on the war in Afghanistan by the whistleblowing website Wikileaks has raised new questions about the viability of the war that is becoming unpopular by the day, not only in the US but also in other western countries which are part of the coalition.

Civilian deaths caused by foreign forces are a major source of friction between Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his western allies. In the past year, civilian casualties in the nine-year war have dropped significantly, thanks to policies introduced by Nato commanders aimed at minimising collateral damage in operations against the insurgents.

Nevertheless, deaths and injuries to civilians still appear to be regular occurrences, and convince Afghans that the source of violence in the country is the presence of the US and Nato troops fighting to quell the insurgency.

Interestingly, the secret documents released by Wikileaks came at a time when US President Barack Obama is facing renewed pressure from the American public as well as his own Democratic party to pull out of Afghan quagmire where victory is no longer an option. Of course, President Obama has inherited this mess but administration officials acknowledge that the documents will make it harder for Obama as he tries to hang on to public and congressional support until the end of the year, when he has scheduled a review of the war effort.

Defending his strategy for the unpopular war, Obama underscored the need to stick to his approach and he urged lawmakers to approve US$37 billion in funds for the war effort. Both the Congress and the House of Representatives approved the bill. However, the big surprise was that most "no" votes came from Obama's own Democrats. It was a sort of a Democratic revolt against the war in Afghanistan as Democrat after Democrat not only just opposed the war but also wanted to cut off funding for it.

The Wikileaks leaks have triggered new divisions among the Democrats as many of them felt that the current US policy in Afghanistan was deeply flawed and, therefore, opposed giving another blank cheque to President Obama. The mood among the Democrats opposed to war can be gauged from the statement issued by Representative Dennis Kucinich, who said: "The Wikileaks-leaked documents gave us 92,000 reasons to end the war."

More than US$300 billion has been spent in Afghanistan in the past nine years and still there is no substantial or tangible change on the ground. The leaks that have queered the pitch for President Obama approaches an end-of-the-year review of US policy in Afghanistan. Options before Obama are limited. If he continues with this war, he will have to pay a political price as Americans are increasingly weary of this costly war. Withdrawing forces from Afghanistan is also a difficult option as Republicans have already accused him of being soft on terror.