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There was an interesting piece in the Independent concerning the murder of 10 Charity Workers in Afghanistan: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-aid-workers-and-armed-force-2047112.html

Whilst the British Media will inevitably concentrate on the one Briton killed, the following quote from this article, does provoke some thought:

“But the dependence of aid workers on the military for security, and the reliance of the military on aid organisations for the civilian reconstruction projects that are vital to winning over the local population, make for a volatile mix that risks endangering all concerned.”

The Incident

In simple terms, these 10 people, 8 ‘Westerners’ and two Afghan Interpreters were travelling to set up a clinic in a remote but ‘safe’ part of Afghanistan, they were on their way back to Kabul when they were ambushed and killed. Who killed them and why is at this time and likely forever, unknown but the local Police suspect robbery rather than anything to do with the Taliban. That would seem to make sense because these people were unarmed and taking them hostage would have seemed more sensible from an insurgent point of view of ‘maximum leverage’ on Western Public Opinion however, I am just guessing.

The probably, spurious claim by a Taliban source that they were killed because they carried Christian Bibles in a Country with a high illiteracy rate, pure was opportunism on their part. To justify a brutal atrocity that transgresses everything that Islam stands for and from there to try and suggest that “they” are in control of an area the Taliban never controlled even when they were in power.

Also my view is that regardless of whether they had been from a Christian, Jewish or Muslim Charity was irrelevant, they were white and foreign – outsiders and therefore considered as “fair game” for a bunch of (probably), local robbers, religion doesn’t even enter the equation here any more than it does for Somali Pirates.

A Background

Dr.Liam Fox got it mainly right when he he described the place as a 13th Century Society, although personally I don’t suspect that it is as advanced as that, I can’t imagine an Afghan version of the Magna Carta being signed in the Green Zone of Helmand, can you ? However, there is a serious point to be made here:

There is no such thing as an Afghan Nation, it is a tribal society at every level, family, village and tribe take precedence over all else including religion. As in the Europe of the Middle Ages, the local War Lord rules by fear and whilst personal charity to people you know and the “Patronage of Rulers” are understood, I am pretty sure that there is little to no understanding of organised Western Charities like OXFAM or whoever.

The concept of ordinary people from anywhere contributing their personal cash to help people they will never know in countries they will never visit or get any benefit from, must seem a totally foreign concept that they would not ever be able to get their minds around any time soon.

Reality in Restaurants

Many years ago I was involved in designing and creating “Themed Restaurants” which was great fun but, I always remember several points that the Team Leader, a very experienced Restaurateur himself made about the whole idea. Firstly if you were designing an “English Pub” for New York say, the design does not have to be “authentic” in every detail, but it needs to conform to what New Yorkers expect a English Pub to be like. To discover that, you need to examine what films and so on that your target audience have seen that feature English Pubs…

The second point he made though was very telling: If the theme was Tex/Mex, American Diner or whatever, the theme may well prove more important to the owner than the customers, all they want is a decent restaurant with good food, ambience, service and value, if you don’t supply these, however amazing the venue, it will be empty because it is a restaurant, not a theme park.

Different Charities

I mean no disrespect to the brave and caring people who carry out the field work on behalf of the various charities but one must ask the question about just who “The particular Charity” is most important to, the people delivering the aid or, the people who are receiving it ?

In this context, it may be important for a particular volunteer to say that they are from Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières and so on but what does that mean to an ordinary Afghan ? Take this headline from the MSF web site: “(MSF) is an independent humanitarian medical aid organisation. We are committed to providing medical aid where it is most needed, regardless of race, religion, politics or gender and also to raising awareness of the plight of the people we help.”

These are worthy goals for educated and caring Westerners but I might suggest, totally irrelevant to the people on the ground be they in Dufar, Afghanistan or flood victims in Pakistan, when faced with calamity, such distinctions are irrelevant, their needs are all.

Conclusion

The question the Independent article really raised was just how close can the NGOs get to the Military in a war situation without losing their “integrity” as organisations ?

My view is that the question is irrelevant because as this incident demonstrates, the NGOs may just as well shelter under the protection of the Military because as far as the locals are concerned, they likely do not see nor even care about the difference between one bunch of white guys and another bunch of white guys. It is about as relevant as the locals trying to differentiate between whether that British foot patrol is from a Rifles Battle Group or a Royal Marine Commando Battle Group.