There isnt much written about Afghanistan, and even less critical and poignant analysis at that, so when you find something good you ought to read it. Well this is a great and very important piece by Dr. Anila Daulatzai. Short read but reframes how to analyze and understand the war in Afghanistan. I would argue it the framing the article gives is relevant in most post-conflict spaces, including Iraq. Here is just an excerpt to entice you to read the whole article: The invasion of Afghanistan exemplified what Talal Asad (2007) identifies as a capacity of the modern liberal state to enact “a combination of cruelty and compassion” with what it considers legitimate forms of violence. The cruelty inherent to the NATO bombings of Afghanistan is largely accepted by the international community because these acts are articulated as a project of compassion, and because such acts are the price of modernity and democracy. The same irreverence for civilian lives is described as terrorism when authored by anti-state actors (such as the Taliban), and as collateral damage when authored by transnational military forces (including private contractors). Violence is thus understood as barbarism in the former case, and as a form of care in the latter. The fact that violence is evaluated entirely differently depending on who authors it is not unique to Afghanistan. Yet by labeling the post-2001 phase of the thirty-five years of conflict in Afghanistan as post-conflict, the violence of the current military occupation can be rendered as acts of care rather than as acts of war.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:13:57 +0000
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