Murphy Assails Pakistani Tolerance Of Taliban Following Afghan Junket

By John Voket

About an hour after getting off a plane in Washington, D.C., Monday morning, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) called a press conference to discuss his trip to Afghanistan, where he was joined by a delegation of five other members of Congress. The congressman said that hours earlier, as he was boarding the flight from a stopover in the country of Georgia, he received news of the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

Rep Murphy, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, spent last weekend meeting with US military and civilian leaders in Afghanistan, including special operations leadership. He also met with Connecticut troops and nongovernmental operatives, to receive a firsthand view of the war’s recent escalation.

Saying it was “a great day for America and everyone across the world who cares about and strives for freedom and democracy,” Mr Murphy said nothing can repair the damage done to the families who lost loved ones on September 11, but the killing of Bin Laden provided some measure of justice to survivors of that terrorist attack in New York, as well as others who were victims of al-Qaeda actions.

The congressman said upon his arrival in Afghanistan there was a sense of excitement in the room as he was briefed ahead of his visit to the troops. Little did he know just two days later that same room would be filled with the team issuing final orders for the raid that would target the notorious terrorist figure.

At the time of his briefing there, Mr Murphy said he had every confidence that the special forces in Afghanistan would eventually find and deliver, or dispose of, Bin Laden, unaware that the mission would be carried out just a short time later

“I congratulate our armed forces and President Obama for taking part in this daring operation that was long overdue to bring justice to the families of September 11,” he said.

Referring to his brief visit, the congressman said he was convinced that the transition of US forces out of the country has to happen “sooner rather than later.” And he saw progress there, leading him to believe the transition to Afghan control is progressing.

In previous Afghan visits, Mr Murphy said he was restricted to remaining “close to the wire,” but since the coalition force occupation, and the fortifying of domestic police and security forces on the ground occurred, he was able this time to venture out into more remote areas — albeit with a commando escort.

At the same time, he saw the root causes of insurgency still linger.

“As we walked through town visiting village elders, we walked through poppy fields,” Mr Murphy said. “The fuel and the funding for the insurgency that comes from poppy production is not being addressed even as US troops are on the ground in these areas.”

He said two weeks earlier, two local elders were killed by Taliban insurgents who wanted to intimidate villagers from joining the domestic police force.

“And the local elders were concerned that Pakistan continues to be a safe haven for the Taliban,” Mr Murphy said, adding that the elders fully expected to see more Taliban rebels return to cause more trouble for the local residents as well as occupation forces.

The congressman said he believes that Afghanistan will never be safe if something is not done about the protections being afforded to insurgents by neighboring Pakistan. And he sees the continuing training of Afghan military and security forces as a way to eventually influence the withdrawal of US forces.

Mr Murphy said as he attended a memorial service for eight soldiers and a civilian killed by a Taliban sympathizer several days earlier, including a New Haven native, he was touched to see the tears on the faces of a lot of hardened airmen and airwomen.

“We got a real sense of what the price of this mission is,” he said. “And this is likely to be a difficult spring and summer for forces there.”

Relations ‘Never Worse’

Responding to questions, Mr Murphy said Bin Laden was an important villain, but there are still thousands of al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents who have virtual immunity in Pakistan.

“Frankly, our relations with Pakistan has never been worse,” Mr Murphy said. “And the Pakistanis are doing less than ever before in trying to shut down their country from being a staging ground for assaults on military personnel in Afghanistan and Afghan civilians.”

The congressman said the Pakistanis only take on the insurgents when they are viewed as a threat to Pakistan government stability, and that government is less worried now as the Taliban focus has shifted to targets in Afghanistan, including US troops and allied security forces.

“I think we need to call out the Pakistani government for their sometimes open hosting of Taliban and al-Qaeda hosting,” he said. And Mr Murphy was anxious to learn whether there was any knowledge of the hosting of Bin Laden within the compound maintained for him in Pakistan.

“I hope there was no open coordination between the Pakistan security forces and Bin Laden,” he said. “And we have to use our military and economic aid to change their behavior.”

Responding to a question from The Bee about the morale of local security forces in the wake of Bin Laden’s death, the congressman said that his concern was for the Taliban forces who are still using the funds from poppy production to fortify their efforts.

“Security doesn’t necessarily get better for Afghanis because Osama bin Laden is dead,” he said. “They trained their sights on western targets. The Taliban is the main threat to US forces and Afghan civilians, and the situation won’t get much better until the Taliban is decreased in strength.”

The congressman also said when talking to US troops, including some from Connecticut, many expressed a sense of “hopefulness and frustration.”

“Our men and women in the military are optimistic by nature because they see the ability to finish every task they are given. They were pleased at the progress they were making setting up a police force in the Herat province; they were pleased they were able to build some local infrastructure for the people,” he said. “But they were frustrated that the Taliban was on the verge of returning, and frustrated that oftentimes the politics of the place were dictated more by intertribal disputes than by a common hostility toward the Taliban.”

Mr Murphy said the troops are doing the best job they can on the ground, “but as long as the Taliban have a safe place to hide during the winter, it’s going to be a tough spring and summer for any of our troops over there.”