Islamic organization opposes hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan
The head of a major Muslim body said on Tuesday any hasty Western troop withdrawal from Afghanistan could have dire consequences.This is a challenge to the central demand of the Taliban. It is an interesting response since Obama seems open to agreeing to the Taliban time table. It is also a wise response, since a precipitous withdrawal would lead to disaster.The United States is deploying 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan this year in an effort to turn the tide against a growing Taliban insurgency.
Washington plans to start withdrawing by mid-2011, making this year a critical period for the outcome of the 8-year-old war.
NATO allies have pledged to add to their contingents. But two of the biggest, the Netherlands and Canada, have announced plans to withdraw their combined 5,000 troops in 2010 and 2011.
"There should be careful calculations of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), told a news conference in Islamabad.
His call for caution comes at a critical time.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said on Monday he had held his first direct talks in Kabul with a senior delegation from Hezb-i-Islami, one of the three main insurgent groups in the country and rivals to the Taliban.
The meeting was an unprecedented success in Karzai's efforts to reach out to insurgents this year.
The Saudi-based OIC, comprised of 57 Muslim states, has sought to play a bigger role in solving Muslim crises through debate among various branches of Islam.
...
If President Obama listens to this Muslim organization as well as he listened to the American public about health care, the decision will be withdrawal. I am certain that his political goal of saying that he ended the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq during his first term is far more important.
ReplyDelete