´BRITISH ARMIES OF RETRIBUTION
By:Ghulam Muhammad Zarmalwal
This is an extended Article on a Debate which has been continuing for a couple of weeks in the World Wide Web. The aim of the extended Article is to make it clear to those interested and involved in the discussion as to what extent and why the Afghan Nation is being massacred for more than two centuries. The debate began originally as a result of responding to a question by Nabi Mubtakir to A. Kochey, our mutual friend on the Face-book. In his response my friend and colleague, Mubtakir, had dwelt on various aspects of the Afghan Nation dilemma, had pointed out the role of the Fifth Columns in Kabul throughout history and had comprehensively highlighted the negative role played by some famed Afghan ´historians´. I do not intend to discuss that matter further. However, I would like to discuss, as commissioned by Nabi Mubtakir, the relationship of Amir Abdul Rahman Khan with the British Colonialists.
It is quite clear from Abdul Rahman Khan´s Biography that the Puppeteers and the Puppet both were suspicious of each other. It was due to this reason that, with the passage of time, definition of the Amir by the Colonial Authorities was changing. In a statement, the Foreign Secretary of the British India Sir Mortimer Durand, called the Amir an ´´obstinate and unreliable ally.” Reporting on the continued unrest and uprising by the Afghans against the British in various parts of the Afghanland, a British Officer, Lieutenant T.P. Dowdall, wrote that the ´Amir of Afghanistan, in spite of his protestations of friendship, and the Durand Line, had his part to play. Three months ago [in 1897] the Amir sent Agents all over Afghanistan telling all to be ready for a ´´Jihad”… He then sold 80,000 rifles (made in Kabul under English supervision) to the Frontier Tribes at 2/6 each … he could afford this as we give him a large subsidy early to insure his friendship.´ (Victoria Schofield, p107).
Nevertheless, at the time they needed the ´´Iron Amir” and therefore kept him on their side. However, the ´´Raj” reverted to the ´Forward Policy´ and her façade of ´friendship´ with Abdul Rahman Khan came to an end. The signs of Britain´s return to the old policy appeared when the Colonial Authorities began building Roads and Railway Lines in Eastern and Southern Afghanland for moving and stationing Military Forces. One among these railway lines was that at Bolan Pass and tunnelling the Kozhak Mountain, which were being built some 50 miles from Quetta to Chaman. Showing his anger and inability in this connection, the Amir Notes in his Biography, ´´The Quetta-Chaman Railway Line is like a knife which cuts into my vitals´´.
And yet another matter of contention between the Amir and the Colonial Authorities was that Abdul Rahman Khan continued consulting with the Elders and Tribal Leaders on all matters of National Interest. The Amir saw himself entitled to be in touch with and consult the Afghans whose Territory had been assigned to the British under the Gandomak Agreement. No restriction, whatever, had been imposed in this regard and neither Abdul Rahman Khan saw any logic in the imposition of such restrictions.
Article 9 of that Agreement States:
´In consideration of the renewal of a friendly alliance between the two States, which has been attested and secured by the foregoing Articles, the British Government restores to His Highness the Amir of Afghanistan and its Dependencies the towns of Kandahar and Jalalabad with all the Territory now in possession of the British Armies, excepting the districts of Kurram, Pishin, and Sibi, according to the limits defined in the schedule annexed, shall remain under the protection and Administrative Control of the British Government that is to say, the aforesaid Districts shall be treated as Assigned Districts, and shall not be considered as Permanently Severed from the Limits of the Afghan Kingdom. The Revenues of these Districts, after deducting the charges of Civil Administration, shall be paid to His Highness the Amir. The British Government will retain in its own hands the control of the Khyber and Michni Passes, which lie between the Peshawar and Jalalabad districts, and of all relations with the independent Tribes of the Territory directly connected with these Passes.´ [Emphasis added]
Thus, although the Amir was engaged in quelling numerous rebellions against his Authority, he encouraged and supported resistance against the Colonial Authorities. It was due to this reason that Mortimer Durand imposed the ´´Durand Line” (which is an Imaginary Line because it does not exist either as de facto or de-jure) Frontier, on the Amir in order to dissuade him from continuing his influence to the lands assigned to the British. Thus the ´´Durand Line” was a line of limiting the role of the two sides, the Afghan and British, for maintaining ´´law and order” in their spheres of influence.
The accord was valid for ´100-years´ after which the Afghan-land was to be returned to Afghanistan.
This was not unique to Afghanistan. Following the 1907 Convention, Iran was divided in to ´Spheres of Influence´ between Britain and Tsarist Russia. An Agreement was signed in which the ´Two Powers´ divided Iran into ´British Zone in the South, a Russian Zone in the North, and a Neutral Zone in which,´ both sides ´undertook reciprocally not to seek exclusive concessions.´ The Russian Zone was far larger than that of the British. It included Tehran, too. The British zone in the South, however, contained oil which had been on the verge of development.
In 1897 the territory of Hong Kong was assigned to the British. This agreement was to be valid for ´one hundred years´ after which it was to be reverted to China.
After WWII Britain and Russia, which had occupied Iran directly, withdrew and Iran remained intact.
Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997.
And with Afghanistan:
´It was agreed at the time that, on the Hong Kong model, after a hundreds years all of what became the North-West Frontier Province of British India would revert to Afghanistan. No government in Kabul accepted the Durand Line any more than they accepted British, or, later, ... Pakistani, control over the Territory.´
The Afghan nation, however, was dealt a severe blow.
Instead of returning the Afghan Territory and People to their Motherland, they were turned into the ´Defensive and Offensive Military Base´ to protect ´the wells of power, for British Imperialism in the Middle-East. Imperial Britain had not forgiven the Afghan Nation for its Resistance, which had spoiled her Imperial Agenda in the Region. She had been bent on avenging her defeat in the first, second and third Afghan Wars. After her nominal withdrawal from the Region, this thirst for vengeance was put on the shoulders of the Wavell/Jinnah/ Mountbatten Pakistan. And Pakistan fulfilled its duty admirably. Since its creation, the ´´Islamic Pakistan” has used Islam to maintain the division of and destroy the Afghan nation.
The Process Continues Today.
Mark Curtis in his book, ´Secret Affairs´ - published by Serpent´s Tail, London - 2010 (p331) wrote: ´Current British Policy in the Middle East is as expedient as it has been over the last Century. The reliance on making deals with the Taliban and on their Supporters in Islamabad, together with the pragmatic use of the Muslim Brotherhood´ and ´´the professors”, are policies which previous generations of British Planners would recognise…Whitehall is again in effect colluding with Islamic Actors to salvage what it can from Afghanistan and achieve fundamental Foreign Policy Objectives. This entails, on the one hand, dealing with elements within the Taliban to promote a familiar Divide and Rule Strategy in the Country and, on the other with Pakistan when it is in reality extending a second round of support to the Taliban following that in the 1990s, when Islamabad largely created to rule Afghanistan.´
It has been this ´dirty game´ played by the British that War in Afghanistan has intensified. In order to secure its Colonial Legacy, Britain has deliberately created the situation. ´The War in the Southern Afghan Province of Helmand … has been gradually escalating since the initial British deployment … in May 2006.´ An example of this duplicity is the expulsion of two British ´Spies´ some two years ago who were engaged ´in making peace´ with the Taliban. ´Thus Whitehall was fully expecting to provoke a full-scale war. When the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai criticized the British in January 2008, telling a Press Conference that ´when they [the British] came in, the Taliban came´, he was simply repeating what British Officials already knew, though this did not stop them reacting with fury at Karzai´s Comment.´ It is an open secret that Britain is in collusion with Pakistan in order to continue the War in which the victims are the Afghan Nation. In an Intelligence Report, Barnett Rubin, has ´confirmed, this collusion and in a part states: ´the Argument that Poverty and Underdevelopment, rather than Pakistani Support, are responsible for the Insurgency does not stand up to scrutiny.´
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Books on Afghanistan, past and present, written by a large number of Writers of the British establishment are full of duplicity and deceit. Such Writers are not limited to those like Olaf Caroe, whose Book, ´The Pathans´, is a true symbol of Imperial Deception and a Tool of ´Divide and Rule´, which has been a ´Bible´ for the Punjabi Establishment. Today´s British Writers, too, are bonded to the same criteria. On the surface these books seem revealing. The fact, however, is that almost all have attempted to hide the most important facts about Imperial Strategy and what Legacy it has left behind.
Mr. David Miliband, an ex-Minister of Foreign Minister in the ex-Labour Government, on April 1, 2010, wrote an article - entitled: ´How to End the War in Afghanistan´. Miliband´s Article, although brief, is reflective of the Imperial thinking and attitude (the arrogance, ruthlessness, racism and self-justification). Thus, it is timely that his Article, which is brief enough to be a fair candidate for analysis, to be examined.
Miliband begins his Article by stating that ´Neither the UK nor the US started the War in Afghanistan. In the 1990s the country´s Taliban Government provided a safe haven and support for al-Qaeda… Afghanistan became the Incubator for the September 11 attacks.´
Mr. Miliband´s claim does not tally with the facts. Instead of revealing, he intends to conceal the reality. The reality is:
(1) There was no Taliban Government in Afghanistan, but it was the Pakistani installed and British sponsored favourite ´´pro-Western” Professor Rabbani on the Kabul Throne. Taliban captured Kabul at the end of September (26 Sept. 1996), five months after Bin Laden´s arrival in Afghanistan.
(2) Recommended by the ISI, financed by the Saudi Royal Family Bin Laden was a star recruit of the CIA and MI6. ´While Osama was living on the Afghan-Pakistan border, his religious conviction deepened. He built close relationship with several Religious Authorities [in Islamabad], including Umar Abd al-Rahman who came to Pakistan in 1985. Although Osama played a support, rather in combat role, he participated in the Battles in the later stages of the campaign especially in the 1986 attack on Jalalabad.´ Rohan Gunaratna ´Inside al-Qaeda´ - (p21)
Thus Britain´s Politicians, who feverishly argued that Britain invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 because it was the ´´incubator of al-Qaeda,” was not the truth. The truth, as proved by evidence, was that Religion was used as the most effective Tool for Britain´s policy of ´Divide and Rule´. The truth was that the ´´Incubator´´ for al-Qaeda´s ideas had been manufactured more than three Centuries ago in the Factories of the British Colonialism. And the ´incubator´ of the 21st Century, the creator of the actual al-Qaeda, had been the Punjab, the capital Britain´s ´military base´ - the Wavell/Jinnah Pakistan.
´The partition of India in 1947 was the only way to contain intractable Religious difference as the Sub-continent moved towards independence - or so the official story goes. But this new history [by Sarila] reveals previously overlooked links between British Strategic interests - in the oil wells of the Middle East and maintaining access to its Indian Ocean Territories - and partition… Sarila, former ADC to Mountbatten, has drawn on top-secret documentary evidence throwing new light on Gandhi, Jinnah, Mountbatten, Churchill, Atlee, Wavell and Nehru amongst others. This radical reassessment of a key moment in British Colonial History is important in itself, but also offers reason to believe that the roots of Islamic Terrorism sweeping the World today may lie in the partition of India.´
Britain´s Imperial Strategy had always been and remained unchanged that they invade other Nations, ruin their lives, deprive them of their livelihood and then put the blame on the victims. In callus disregard to the death, mutilation and displacement of 10s of million of innocent people as a result of the ´´Dissection” of India and the creation of their ´´Military Base”, Pakistan, the Imperial Authorities put the blame on the Indians. Winston Churchill, one of the principal architect of the carnage, wrote: ´´We are of course only at the beginning of these horrors … perpetrated upon one another, men, women, and children, with the ferocity of cannibals, by races gifted with the capacities of the highest culture and who had for generation side by side in general peace under the broad, tolerant and imperial rule of the British Crown and Parliament. India´s descent to chaos was … one of the most melancholy tragedies Asia have ever known.” [Emphasis added]
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Commenting on the Imperial History, David Miliband wrote: ´´Britain fought three Wars in Afghanistan between 1839 and 1919. Each time it was defending its power base - and economic stake - in British India.” Quite blatantly arrogant! He does not only justify the spilling of blood of hundreds of thousand of Afghans, but also fails to mention that each and every one of those Wars and Britain´s defeat was followed by British revenge. The first Afghan war (1839) and Britain´s defeat was followed by British ´´retribution” in 1842 during which Kabul was ´´torched”. The Second Afghan War (1879) and Britain´s defeat at Maywand was followed by British retribution in 1880. General Roberts was instructed that ´´Your objective should be to strike terror, and to strike it swiftly and deeply.” And the general did so splendidly. The Third Anglo-Afghan War of (1919) and British defeat was avenged as a result of which the Afghan king, Amanollah, lost his Throne in 1929. The Forth British and American sponsored Russo-Afghan War (1979-1992) was avenged by the imposition of the ´´Apartheid” Regime of the Panjsher ´´Mafia” on the Afghan Nation and the intention of the ISI that ´´Kabul must burn” was implemented. And as a result of the 2001 Invasion (the Fifth Anglo-Afghan War), once again the Afghan destiny was handed over to British trained Surrogates - the same ´´Warlords and Criminals” of the Panjsher ´´Mafia”. And the British Army of Retribution is engaged - at the time of this writing - in mass killings of the Afghans in order to secure ´´its Power Base”, the Wavell/Mountbatten/Jinnah Pakistan.
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The West had ´won´ the Cold as a result of the British and American sponsored ´Jihad´ of General Zia. The ´´Allies” claimed triumph at the cost of the blood and tears of millions of Afghans; the total destruction of their Country and that of their Huts and Hearths. All the ´´Victors” had gone. Osama bin Laden was also among them who left. However, under pressure by the US, Osama was forced to leave Sudan where he had been living since his expulsion by the Saudi Royals. ´Together with his entourage, he had limited the choice of returning to either Pakistan or Afghanistan, and he opted for the later, in May 1996.´ Why Osama bin Laden ´opted´ for Afghanistan and not Pakistan? Because the ISI and its British Masters by this time had decided to remove to and ´dump´ every danger or dangerous act in Afghanistan. This was true for the cultivation of narcotics as well as trainers and the Training Camps for ´Jihad´ in Kashmir. Operating under the cover of MAK (´´Kenne-Minee Services”)´ Rohan Gunaratna wrote, ´Osama´s able and trusted Ally Abu Zubaydah manage al-Qaeda Operations in Pakistan, keeping him informed of developments. After Osama arrived in Afghanistan accompanied by his three wives and many children, he drew even closer to Abu Zubaydah who, in addition to liaising with Islamic NGOs, was responsible for receiving recruits before departing for Afghanistan and keeping in touch with Islamic Terrorist Groups and Political Parties in Asia.´ (P39)
David Miliband furiously, and rightly, criticise Karzai´s leadership. ´´The Afghan Government”, he states, ´´led by Hamid Karzai faces competing demands from its own people, from powerful criminal and commercial interests, and from the International Community. But it lacks the capacity to govern.” What Mr. Miliband fails to reveal that, that it was Britain again which trained these ´Warlords´ and Corrupt Officials - the Panjsher ´´Mafia”, who are surrounding Hamid Karzai. ´´… contracted to ´Private´ Security Firms, a Policy cleared in Whitehall; the main Company was - KMS ´Keenie-Meenie Services´, the name given to mercenaries fighting for Britain in the brutal war in Kenya in the 1950s. KMS training, led by former SAS Officers, was provided to a small number of Afghan Commando Units at Secret MI5 and CIA Bases in Saudi Arabia and Oman; the later Bases were also used as Staging or Refuelling Flights on their way to Pakistan… in 1987” when the Russians´ withdrawal from Afghanistan was ensured and talks in Geneva were progressing, ´´a secret Proposal from KMS to the CIA to send small Teams of ex-SAS Instructors into Afghanistan to train Rebels in ´Demolition, Sabotage, Reconnaissance, and Para-medicine”. An SAS Officer, who had a service record of ´´Twenty-three years” in the Agency, reveals that he ´´was part of ´ex-SAS´ Soldiers who trained selected Junior Commanders in Scotland and Northern England in 1983.” (P143 Secret Affairs) Ahmad Shah Massoud´s elder brother, Yahya Massoud, who served as ´a Liaison between Massoud and the British Intelligence Service, MI6- states: ´´We had close contact”, with the British. I can tell you that more than fourteen times [in nine years] I travelled back and forth to the U.K. seeking assistance. They assisted us very well. They gave us very special equipment. They gave us Military Training - not through Pakistan.” (´Ghost Wars´ footnotes pp601-602)
The British Government admired to no end Karzai´s charm, cast, cloak and cap. Recently, however, his fortunes have changed. He has been described as suffering from ´´Manic Depression”. What happened? Why this change of fortunes? Has he stepped on and hurt the Imperial tail in some way? In 1879 the Afghan reformist Amir, Amir Sher Ali Khan, was also tolerated if not totally admired by the ´´Raj”. However, when he displayed a bit of independence, he then too was described as ´´half savage with a touch of insanity”. The British invaded his country and the Amir lost his life. This round the British are already in Kabul, the only extra step that they can take is perhaps invading the Arg (Palace)!!
As far as Hamed Karzai´s choice at the Bonn Conference to head the ´´Mafia” Setamite Coalition, was not his. He did not know that he had been ´´selected” at the Bonn Meeting (December 2001) to be President of the Interim Authority. He learned this when a BBC Correspondent, Lis Ducet, told him on the phone. He was ironically the choice of the Panjsher ´´Mafia”, the ISI, the Iranians and Europeans. Why? Was there any hidden Agenda behind this? Yes, he was selected to sabotage the Role of the ex-King, Zahir Shah, around whom the Afghan Nation could have rallied and thus an end to War and suffering. US Envoy at the Bonn Talks, Ambassador Dobbins, says: ´´Among the International Representatives was a strong consensus in favour of Hamid Karzai for the Leader. This Accord was by no means my doing. On the contrary, virtually every Foreign Official with whom I had met in the past month, including the Pakistani, the Indian, the Russian, the Iranian, the Turkish and European Delegates, had mentioned his name to me unprompted. The unanimity of International Support for Karzai was Dr. Abdullah´s doing … In addition to prompting Karzai´s candidacy to me, Abdullah [Mr. Peter Galbraith´s hero] had planted the suggestion with the Russians, Indians, Iranians, Turks, and various European Government Officials.” P89.
Would Mr. Miliband reveal if the British Government had any Role in this Duplicity?
***
While portraying the Afghan Nation as a bunch of uncivilized ´Tribes´ and Afghanistan the ´Incubator´ of terrorism, Miliband portrays that ´Pakistan is a Country of 170 million people. It is a Nuclear Power. Pakistan will act only according to its own sense of its National Interest. Its relationship with Afghanistan is close to the core of its National Security Interests. Pakistan … is perpetually worried about India´s relationship with Afghanistan.´ In spite of all claims of the British Establishment for being ´´fair” - (an overused word) - Mr. Miliband has not the courtesy to consider the security concern of Afghanistan, too? Does Islamabad consider the Afghans as its Colonial Subjects, thus they should avoid having ´relationship´ with India or any other Nation? What about the Afghans objecting to Punjab having ´relationship´ with Britain, the U.S., and the Israelis? Is it not the fact that under the instructions of its ´Imperial Masters, the ´´Pak-Army” has massacring the Afghan Nation day and night.
The last 35 years has been a vivid example of this.
And, yes, it is true that Pakistan is a Country of ´170 million people´, what the ex-Foreign Secretary hides, however, is that Pakistan is composed of 170 million distinctive Nations: the Punjabis, Pashtuns, Baluch, Sindhis, and Saraikis - who have been moaning for Centuries under the Iron Clutches of British Imperialism, and for the last 60 years under the Tyranny of its Surrogate ´´Pak-Arm and Bureaucracy” - the ´´Brown Sahibs”. On the second point, i.e. the Surrogate ´´Pak-Army” possessing Nuclear Weapons´, Miliband intend to warn - in true form of an Imperialist Mind - that Islamabad would ´nuke´ you unless you go down on your knees in submission. Well the Afghan Nation´s destiny has been to be massacred by Tyrants of all ages and now, too, is prepared for that sacrifice.
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The ´´Cold War” was ´won´ by Mr. Miliband with the killing and maiming of millions of Afghans. As a result the cherished hopes of many nations were realized. East Europe was freed; Germany was united; Afghanistan´s Northern Neighbors - ´´the Stans” - all victims of Miliband´s ´´Great Game”, were also freed. The Afghan Nation was, however, drowned in its own tears and blood for the sake of Mountbatten´s Pakistan and Britain´s ´´National Interests and Security concerns”. I would like to appeal to the Imperial conscience of Mr. Miliband to think over the above and judge as to: ´´What crimes have the gentle Pakhtuns committed that they should be erased from the pages of history, deprived of their Land and through serfdom pushed to their doom! … For Centuries they have known no peace. They have been repeatedly ravaged by bombardment, war and massacre. Their Territory is a War Zone, a Training Ground for Imperialist Powers … All the necessities of life are denied to them. ´´Thousands of people were murdered by the ancient Tyrants. And as a result of British and Pakistani Authorities, lakhs of Pakhtuns who could have been a Strong Nation in Asia and served the cause of humanity, have been divided and devastated, gradually erased from the Map of the World and wiped out. My Crusade today is against this injustice. What crimes have the gentle Pakhtuns committed that they should be erased from the pages of history, deprived of their land and through serfdom pushed to their doom! ... We have been painted black in the eyes of the world by Aliens. The doors are shut upon us, none is allowed to reach us, and we have been presented as a collection of uncivilized, wild Tribes… During all these dark and evil days for Centuries, spreading from the Mogul Reign to British Rule and Pakistani Regime, these helpless people have been subjected to Tyranny… They seldom enjoy a long spell of peaceful existence … for Centuries they have known no peace. They have been repeatedly ravaged by bombardment, war and massacre. Their Territory is a War Zone, a Training Ground for Imperialist Powers. They have no schools or hospitals. Like untended, wild daisies, they bloom and fade away in mountain ridges. All the necessities of life are denied to them … I wonder what the pathetic World expects of them!
If Mr. Miliband can not feel this pain, then his ´How to End the War in Afghanistan´ will prove nothing, but a hollow slogan.
***
It is therefore vital for the Afghan Nation to realise that the same Britain, which has been killing and maiming our men, women and children for the last two-plus Centuries, is again in the Afghanland for continuing the same. It is supported by her local ´Sleeping Agents´ and by hundreds of British Spies under the name of ´Aid Workers, NGOs, Journalists, Peace Builders, and Experts´. In Imperialist Philosophy, ´´It is an evolutionary imperative that the strong survive and the weak perish…´´ (The Dust of Empire xxiv). Thus this state of affairs will never end, unless an end is put to it. It is, therefore, the sacred duty of every Afghan men and women from Oxus to Margala to establish control over their Land and Destiny.
And that is what they will.
(Andaleeb) - 
بېرته شاته
بېرته شاته