The Afghanistan agenda

While it is premature to pronounce the collapse of the Taliban regime, the fall of Kabul into the hands of Northern Alliance forces has hastened the need for international intervention. Circumstances dictate that the United Nations must step in now, rather than wait for a more definitive outcome of the civil war in Afghanistan.

Tuesday's fall of Kabul, which came unexpectedly quickly, brought both relief as well as apprehension, not only to the people in the Afghan capital, but also to the international community.

Kabul residents rejoiced at the departure of the Taliban, for it meant freedom from the repressive policies of the regime.

For the international community, the fall of Kabul raised hopes that the United States would ease its bombing campaign in Afghanistan. Now that the Taliban no longer controls Kabul, Washington should review its strategy in the campaign to capture Osama bin Laden and shut down his al Qaida organization. With the Taliban now controlling less territory in Afghanistan, indiscriminate air strikes must no longer be the preferred weapon.

Kabul residents as well as the international community know that the Northern Alliance forces are not exactly heroes who have come to liberate them. The alliance, whose march on Kabul was facilitated and aided by the United States and its allies, is an uneasy collection of minority ethnic groups unified solely by their desire to expel the Taliban, which are made up largely of Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, the Pashtun.

Now that they have captured Kabul, there is concern that members of the Northern Alliance will begin the fight for power and control over the capital. There are concerns that these forces, including the Mujahideen groups that once ruled Kabul, will seek to exact revenge. Lest we forget, these armed groups have a deplorable track record when it comes to human rights.

The United Nations has a duty to ensure that the Afghan people do not fall prey to another repressive regime. They have suffered long enough, first through 13 years of Soviet occupation, then five years of civil war among groups of Mujahideen, and since 1996, under the Taliban regime.

Now is the time for an international intervention to save lives and to help put Afghanistan, once and for all, on a path towards peace, democracy and prosperity.

The United Nations must quickly send in an international force to take control of Kabul. This would not only facilitate the arrival and distribution of badly needed food and medicine for the millions of displaced Afghan civilians, it would also pave the way for the eventual establishment of a UN administration.

Next on the UN's Afghanistan agenda should be the creation of a broadly-supported coalition government in Kabul, one that must include moderate representatives of the Taliban. This entails the establishment of a United Nations body, similar to the one set up in the aftermath of the Cambodian civil war in the 1990s, until Afghanistan can hold a democratic general election to choose a new civilian government. The United Nations must make sure that Afghans are given the chance to elect their own leaders and government, one that is not a puppet of foreign regimes.

As the country with the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia is best placed to assist Afghanistan in building a civil society there. Indonesia has had experience with various UN peacekeeping forces in the past, a handy asset should our services be required once again. But most of all, Indonesia, as a member of the international community, should assist in any way it can because the Afghan people deserve all the help they can get.