Many longing for Taliban’s return
Afghanistan region disgusted with rampant crime, graft
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Nearly three years after U.S.-led forces launched the biggest operation of the war to clear insurgents, foster economic growth and set a model for the rest of Afghanistan, residents of Helmand province say they are too afraid to go out after dark because of marauding bands of thieves.
And during the day, they say corrupt police and government officials bully them into paying bribes. After 11 years of war, many here long for a return of the Taliban. They say that under the Taliban, who routinely punished thieves by cutting off a hand, they were at least safe from crime and corruption.
“If you had a box of cash on your head, you could go to the farthest part of Marjah, and no one would take it from you, even at night,” said Maulvi Daoud, who runs a cubbyhole-sized shop in the town of Marjah. “Today you bring your motorcycle in front of your shop, and it will be gone. Now the situation is that you go on the road, and they are standing in police and army uniform with weapons and they can take your money.”
It was in the town of Marjah in early 2010 that about 15,000 NATO and Afghan forces waged the war’s biggest battle. They not only fought the Taliban with weapons, they promised to bring good governance to Marjah and the rest of the southern province of Helmand.
But it appears the flaw in the plan was with the quality of Afghans chosen by President Hamid Karzai to govern and police the area after most of the fighting ended. And that adds to doubts about the entire country’s future after foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
Despite military claims of gains across the province and an overall drop in violence, Marjah residents say NATO’s counterinsurgency experiment has failed. A bleak picture also emerges from anecdotal evidence collected from dozens of interviews with residents else- where in the province, some from the most violent districts.
Many contend the U.S.-funded local police, a type of locally sanctioned militia, routinely demand bribes and threaten to accuse those who do not comply of being members of the Taliban. Good governance never came to Marjah, they say.
Haji Khalil blamed Afghans for the spike in thefts and lawlessness since the defeat of the Taliban.
“During the Taliban no one would steal because we knew the punishment, but when they left, everyone began to steal,” Khalil said. “We became worse after the Taliban. ... The problem is with us.”