Most Afghans see the Western alliance as occupiers

[Eki]

Did someone expect the opposite?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...792436,00.html

Fully 60 percent of Afghans fear that the country will descend into civil war once NATO forces leave, but over half see the Western alliance as occupiers. A new survey carried out be the Konrad Adenauer Foundation has found that the mood in Afghanistan is worsening.

The troops are there, according to the mission statement, to "provide a secure environment for sustainable stability." But 10 years after NATO entered Afghanistan to drive out al-Qaida and beat back the Taliban, a majority of the local population has come to see the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as little more than occupiers.

According to a survey published on Tuesday by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 56 percent of Afghans now see the foreign troop contingent as an occupying force. Furthermore, only 39 percent of those surveyed said they saw ISAF as a guarantee for security, well down from the 45 percent result found in the same survey in 2010. Fully 60 percent think that the country will descend into civil war once NATO forces withdraw.
Babak Khalatbari, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Afghanistan office, said on Tuesday that the results were "a matter of concern."

[Bob Riebe]

Did someone expect the opposite?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...792436,00.html

It all depends on how the questions are worded.

[Mark]

Channel 4 news showed a report recently where tribal elders in Helmand were shown pictures of the twin towers during the 9/11 attacks. None recognised the images or knew that's why the NATO forces were in the country.

[Rudy Tamasz]

Who needs the damn country? Seal the borders from the outside to stop the drugs trafficking and let proud Afghanis settle their own differences (PC jargon for killing each other).

[Dave B]

I'd be more worried about the USA's little excursions over the border into the sovereign state of Pakistan, randomly killing innocent civillians with their unmanned drones.

[DexDexter]

Let's see what the Afgans say when the US troops leave and the country is in a full blown civil war and/or the Taliban is in complete charge again.

I don't think they'll change their opinion. As hard as it is for us Western people to understand, people in some parts of the world just don't care about democracy, freedom of this and that, equal opportunities etc. They're just too different from us. Iraq is the perfect example.

[Roamy]

Let's see what the Afgans say when the US troops leave and the country is in a full blown civil war and/or the Taliban is in complete charge again.

Civil War is good - Lets get the Fu______k outta there. Let the poppys grow we need to work on the crystal meth problem

[Mark]

Just like they did in Somalia.

[Eki]

It seems we never learn.

It's not just the Afghans and the Somalis. Most Americans didn't listen to the advice of foreigners before they invaded Iraq in 2003 or re-elected George W Bush in 2004. They thought they knew better.

[DexDexter]

Good advice is always valuable. However, the highlighted part is none of your, or anyone else's, business who is not a citizen of the US.

It is when it affects us. It's a global world and unfortunately the decisions of American voters have an effect on us as well. Just like our decisions over here. I'm talking about the Greece bailout. If we here in Europe make the wrong decision in that matter, you're going to feel it as well, believe me.