The purchase of the Taliban, an old practice…

(BRUSSELS2 / In Reunion) Hervé Morin, the Minister of Defence, denied, on Saturday in the plane which took him to the Indian Ocean, the practices " buying peace in Afghanistan. The Times has just "revealed" that the Italians had paid the Taliban to have peace. When they left the area leaving it to the French, they would not have warned them. According to the British newspaper, the fatal ambush of ten French soldiers in August 2008 in the Ouzbin valley, east of Kabul, resulted from this practice, and from this ignorance of this practice, the Taliban deciding to charge to the soldiers present (the French) the lack of respect for an "agreement".

Encourage development Yes, pay the Taliban no. During his trip which takes him from Paris to the Indian Ocean, the Minister of Defense therefore came to the back of the plane to meet the journalists who accompanied him to take stock. " Such practices would be so contrary to honor and the idea of ​​what one can do with an army, to ethics. he pointed out. He made a point of distinguishing two things: There is a dialogue with the maleks, the clan leaders. It is one thing to set up a collaboration, with in fact the mayors of the villages, to build cooperation and stabilize a valley, it is a normal practice. But paying the Taliban would be a sign that we're not capable of fulfilling our mission. He acknowledged, however, that there was indirect funding. " We are not an occupying army, we participate in the construction of a country. Getting local businesses and people to work for a virtuous circle to get under way is absolutely necessary. Building a relationship is necessary for people to grasp the reconstruction of the country. And regarding the presence of armed men, he explained: What I see of the men and women who eventually ensure the protection of companies. But from there to having people armed just for that. Pay the Taliban, no. “He concluded by estimating” There will be no military victory in itself. It is the newfound confidence of the population that will put pressure on the Taliban ».

An ancient practice. It is common knowledge that as the head of the special counterterrorism operations, Hank, said (quoted by Bob Woodward: Bush is going to war): “money talked in Afghanistan ". " Warlords or Sub-Commanders – with their dozens or hundreds of fighters could be bought for the modest sum of $50 in cash. If we know how to do it, we can buy many more Taliban than we need to kill. "" The CIA could provide money to buy food, blankets, equipment against the cold and medicine (...). Humanitarian aid would serve the American cause. The Americans thus largely watered the country and won the (first part) of the 2001 war. victory at the time. However, they reinforced a habit: if you want peace, you pay.

Comments. One can therefore only be surprised at the atmosphere of outraged virgins of certain political leaders in the face of this practice. Moreover, when we talk about the development of a country, it is obvious that there will be "financial flows" towards the population, including people close to the rebellion. This is the very purpose of civil action in conflict zones: to buy peace, to convince populations that they have more to gain from peace than from war. To maintain that we must promote development more without accepting the corollary therefore seems to me a bit utopian and above all contradictory. From a more cyclical point of view, one can also ask the question of the interest of "going out of this business now". Is this really an intra-Italian settling of accounts? We can doubt it: the leak coming from the Times and not from an Italian newspaper. It is moreover a questioning of the United States which puts the finger on the question in
questioning the Italians about this practice. Are the allies willing to put pressure on the Italian government and sow some embarrassment between the two capitals, Paris and Rome? Without a doubt...