An Islamic alternative to the Taliban in Afghanistan

I've blogged before on my own blog about the possibilities of the emergance of a new Islamic centre in the Middle East. Its interesting reflecting on that to look at a new movement, emerging in Afghanistan, Fedayeen-e-Sul led by the Abdul Rahim Warduk son of the current Defence Minister of Afghanistan. Warduk senior was a commander against the Russians in the civil war. Information about it is difficult to find on the net, but this article is from a freelance reporter on Eurasia Net who they say concerns himself mainly with central Asian security affairs. Warduk, in an interview with him, argued that the Taliban are being supported by Iran and that he offers the possibility of an Islamic movement which is sensitive to the equality of women. Caution is advisable- the article is the only one in English according to Google on the movement and it may be that its strength is being hyped here and possibly we are getting a particular version of what this movement actually is.

You might think this even more given that Warduk junior wants money and wants support from the EU and US. He wants us to focus on building him up rather than building Afghan institutions of government. Warduk's plea for finance is something I'm not qualified to adjudicate on- whether he is a corrupt Afghan politician betting on being pro Western to get money or whether he is a principled man needing our support, is not for me to say. But it is worth thinking about- what should our strategy towards places like Afghanistan be, once we've got in there, what should we do.

It is an interesting issue. It seems to me that the institutions of government are very important- you do need fair elections because without them the government instated by them lacks legitimacy. But on the other hand part of the institutional framework is the spirit of the people- if they are inclined towards democracy then institutions will be able to develop- without popular support even the greatest constitutions in the world won't work. It seems worrying that in 1996 the British government got rid of the BBC arabic service, a service which turned into Al Jazeera but could have been a useful weapon for the West like Radio Free America etc in the cold war. There is an issue though, which is as soon as funding is too obviously directed in such efforts lose their value- nationalism means that few people support quislings.

Adjusting that balance is a difficult task- and an unenviable one. Institutions are neccessary and so is winning the battle of ideas in the Islamic world at the moment. Without that things will get worse. An interesting point though to be remembered is that there are little fragments of news coming out of the Middle East, the Far East and Central Asia which suggest the development of an Islamic democratic movement. Whether this report is accurate it fits into a pattern of the gradual growth of movements which are both Islamic and democratic- that can only be good- but how we help them is another matter altogether.