CRIMINOLOGY OF ARMED CONFLICT
Armed conflict refers to a situation
whereby organized armed groups (whether governmental or non-governmental) use
armed force to battle each other. Since world war II ended, two hundred and
fifty conflicts have been estimated to have occurred throughout all continents
in the world (Gleditsch, 2002, p. 615). Consequentially, millions of lives
(approximately 70 to 170 million) have been claimed with the majority being non
– combatants (cherif, 2008). Almost all regions of the world have been
subjected to material and human devastation resulting from state or non-state
perpetrators. Moreover, such violations contradict the supposed beliefs and
fundamental values of the perpetrators. Research indicates that the cessation
of the cold war did not completely terminate armed conflict. Between years 1989
and 2001, a total of 115 armed conflicts had already been recorded. A good part
of 2001 saw over 34 conflicts take place in 28 countries. These armed conflicts
would include four new outbreaks including the 2001 war in Afghanistan
following the September, 11 attacks by Al-Qaeda. This conflict would also be
dubbed the global war on terrorism. The parties involved in the conflict, causes
of the armed conflict, social or political factors influencing the conflict,
and the level of the conflict are hereby discussed.
The U.S war in Afghanistan
The United States war in Afghanistan
began after America invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and is dubbed the longest war
in American history. Before the invasion, the then president of the United States,
Mr. Bush had requested the Taliban to give him Bin Laden and expel his
organization; Al-Qaeda. Osama was a terrorist who had been listed on America’s
wanted list since 1998. The Taliban’s hesitation to extradite Osama among other
most wanted criminals of the September 11 attacks on the grounds of lack of
evidence meant they had declined to cooperate with the US government. The
American government did not take kindly the delay tactics deployed by the
Taliban and also wanted them disbanded (Kelly,
2011). A month after the attacks, the United States officially began Operation
Enduring Freedom alongside the United Kingdom. They later gained support from
Canada and other forces including all NATO members, a coalition of over 40
countries, and the Northern Alliance that had been fighting the Taliban in a
civil war since 1996. The primary aims of the war were to decimate al-Qaeda and
make it hard for them to have safe harbors of operation by ousting them from
power.
Causes of the conflict
Afghanistan had not been stable for
centuries. Fortunately, it managed to free itself from foreign powers and
establish itself as an independent country in the early 1900s. In the early 1970’s, the country witnessed
several coup d'états in which there was power change among different groups.
Later on, a civil war erupted in 1978 that mainly involved the pro- and
anti-communist forces in the country. Military forces would later be deployed
by the Soviet Union to support the communists thus leading to a bloody
conflict. The United States would get involved in the fight and help those
fighting the Soviets through providing military assistance and adequate
funding. Part of those that were strongly opposed to the Soviet invasion was
the Mujahideen that was mainly made up of Islamists (Vermilya, 2017).
During this inter-group level of
conflict, over 1 million Afghans died yet the Soviets soldiered on. Over the
years that followed, the country saw various extremist organizations and
warlords vie for its control over the coming years. Taliban, a fundamentalist
group would take over the leadership of the country by the mid-1990s. The
establishment instituted harsh regulations in the country and ruled according
to the Islamic Sharia law. Unfortunately, they created an environment that
nurtured terrorists. One of the veterans that fought against the Soviets, Osama
Bin Laden, became the leader of the Al-Qaeda network, one of the vast yet
sophisticated terrorist organizations in the world. Bin Laden alongside his
followers plotted to attack the USA. Al-Qaeda terroristic plans on the United
States came to fruition on September 11, 2001, when they attacked the United
States. They achieved this by hijacking four planes with innocent civilians and
flying them through the Pentagon and New York’s World Trade Center. One of the
planes was brought down by passengers who tried to brave the hijackers. The
attack claimed the lives of approximately 3,000 Americans (Griffin, 2010).
Military strength and war
tactics
Since 2001, the Taliban have been at war
with the United States and their allies. They have publicly expressed their
efforts to cast out the American forces from Afghanistan and oust the official
Afghan government supported by the U.S.A which they view as “puppets” of the
United States. The strategies and tactics used by the Taliban have been
compared to those of the Hamas in Gaza. They’re considered the masters of
shielding themselves behind civilians and melting amongst them for protection.
They train women and children and equip them to fight, ferry ammunition and
arms in battles, and collect intelligence. Female suicide bombers are
disturbingly commonplace. They also use women to shield shooters as they engage
anti-Taliban forces such as NATO to the extent that it has become normal and
not worth mentioning. They routinely booby-trap houses and schools and have
their snipers hide in houses that are deliberately filled with children and
women. Throughout their period of control, the Taliban maintained a stable
military consisting of up to tens of thousands of soldiers ("Taliban
Military", 2017). Their army owned numerous sophisticated weapons
including;
•
Over 200
armored personnel carriers and 400 battle tanks
•
The Afghan
Air Force under the Taliban government had around ten supersonic jet
fighters
•
Several
military-type helicopters
•
Sophisticated
jet bombers
•
Anti-tank
weapons
•
The civil
air service possessed around seven big air force airbuses
•
Sub machine
guns, rifles and pistols
•
Anti-aircraft
artillery
Level of Conflict
The U.S war in Afghanistan can be
classified in different levels of conflict. Foremost, It’s critical to consider
that the United States and Afghanistan are states in their own right.
Therefore, it would be safe to say there is a state conflict between the two
countries despite the fact that the current Afghan government is supported by
the United States in its efforts to eradicate the Taliban. There is still
brewing bad blood between the two countries especially between Americans and
the Islamist extremists or Mujahideen who view all nations fighting to end
jihad (terrorism) as public enemies. An interpersonal and societal conflict
also caused the armed conflict before Americans invaded Afghanistan (Singh,
2012). This type of conflict arose since the Taliban considered other ethnic
communities in Afghanistan as foreign. Majority of the members of the Taliban
movement came from the Pashtun people who were the largest ethnic group in
Afghanistan. As the group expanded from their strongholds particularly in the
southern and south-eastern areas, they faced more resistance by other ethnic
groups who perceived their Deobandi Islam and Pashtun tribal code of
Pashtunwali to be foreign. The ethnic tension and conflicts would lead to the
battles of Mazar-i-Sharif. All in all, the main causes of the armed conflict
are the Taliban and Al-Qaeda groups starting war with a superpower country amid
political instability in their own country.
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