Kidnapping in Afghanistan

One of the points I often make in arguing against the war in Iraq is that things remain a little unsettled in Afghanistan. Had we taken our time there to demonstrate how dedicated we were to the people there, the whole humanitarian image would be an easier sell to the world. Instead we defeated the Taliban and left the warlords in charge of whatever region they occupied. And odd form of governorship, I guess.

A few more months on the ground in Afghanistan also would have provided time to find the WMD claims were little more than taffy like truths that the Bush team was struggling to pull.

Reports today that the first Iraqi style kidnapping has taken place in Afghanistan are hopefully not a sign of things to come. We have a much smaller number of forces on the ground there, and if you thought Iraqi insurgents were hard to control, the situation there could easily get worse. Turn a couple of those warlords against us, and there is another front reopened in the war on terror.

Do I think this will really happen? The article seems to paint this as a one time shot, as scattered resistance trying to make a name for itself:

One analyst said: "This is completely new. It looks like a copycat from Iraq."However, the Taleban and their allies have not previously been thought capable of such a sophisticated operation, and the possibility that warlords may have masterminded the kidnapping to embarrass newly elected President Hamid Karzai was thought possible by some Afghans.

Speaking in London, the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw played down suggestions that the kidnapping might be the start of a new trend. "I have no reason to believe it will be anything other than unusual for the future. I think it will stay unusual," he said.

I hope Straw is right on this one.