The Spanish
government has spent a great amount of money in Afghanistan and a large number
of Spanish soldiers have died in that country from the hands of the Taliban. The
Spanish government recalled troops from Iraq but on the other side increased
the number of soldiers in Afghanistan for "reconstruction and humanitarian"
operations, a way to keep balance in diplomatic relations with the US. But
these soldiers are only serving the interests of the US in strategic
operations, despite the media telling us otherwise.
Afghanistan
is a nerve centre for US action in the Middle East due to its strategic
location - it borders Iran and Pakistan. Spanish
soldiers' main mission, despite some humanitarian operations such as medical
assistance, is to guarantee the US control of the area.
In a
politically divided country such as Spain - governed by the Socialist Party but
with a strong and hard opposition led by the Popular Party (PP) - Spanish
politicians and people are divided regarding the deployment of troops in
Afghanistan. In March the cabinet accredited the urgent deployment of soldiers
without prior authorization by the parliament. They sent airplanes Searcher MKIIJ with
36 soldiers to "tighten" the security of Spanish troops in the Asian country.
The
government's decision was based on the third section of article 17 of the
Organic Law of National Defence which points that in case of "full emergency
conditions" support must come "as soon as possible." Thus, the Spanish
government will fulfil the commitment with the NATO members made in the
informal meeting of NATO defence ministers held in Seville on February 2007. In
that meeting the Spanish foreign minister committed to "tightening" the security
of Spanish soldiers with spy planes and increasing the number of Spanish
soldiers in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), with Spanish instructors to train the Afghan National
Army.
Currently, there are around 700 Spanish soldiers in Afghanistan as part
of ISAF contributing to the reconstruction and stabilization of the country. They have been there since 2002 and
are deployed in the west.
The Spanish
government does not really define the position or interests of Spain in this country,
describing it vaguely as "humanitarian" or "reconstruction." Meanwhile,
casualties are not well seen by the Spanish population and popular support for
involvement in such conflicts is decreasing. The current Afghan state does not
make sense without the military protection of the US and other countries such
as Spain as member of ISAF.
In this
chaotic panorama the Spanish government should define the exact position and
interests of Spain in Afghanistan, the real scope of their missions and what their
main goals and deadlines are.
Eva Diez is the director of Global Affairs magazine, a bilingual online journal dealing with international relations.
Related materials from the Atlantic Community:
- Wolfgang Ischinger: Europe Needs to be More Assertive in Transatlantic Relations
- From the Editorial Team: A Security Policy of Free Riding
- Anatol Lieven: The Dream of Afghan Democracy is Dead
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August 27, 2008
Péter Marton, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, Bronze Contributor (20)
Of course I can't possibly know if that Cougar helicopter that went down with 17 on board in 2005 was actually downed or if it crashed at least indirectly as a result of ground-to-air fire, but to my best knowledge only four Spanish soldiers have died so far at the hands of the Taliban or whoever is active blowing up IEDs in their area of operations - is that a large number?
But actually, this is not really the point.
Noone doubts Spain's sacrifice, say, with the 62 soldiers who died on board the airplane that crashed in Turkey in 2003 - but it's accidents like that that show how a casualty count reveals very little of a mission's worthiness. A mission may or may not be worth the effort regardless.
Anyway, I'd like to ask you to please tell us your premises. What do you think Spanish interests are in Afghanistan?
Peter