Are we really trying to 'free' Afghanistan?

Whether bombing Afghanistan is right or wrong — whether by freeing the country the West is once again imposing its culture on a nation or is actually doing what the majority of Afghan citizens want — why did no country, no organization decide that Afghanistan needed more than humanitarian help all these years while the Taliban was gaining power and structuring its regime? The world only seems to see injustice once attention has been drawn to it. Had no one destroyed the World Trade Center four weeks ago, no one would be worrying about the current situation in Afghanistan — at least, not so much that he or she believed it needed to be freed as soon as possible.

What does "to free a country" mean anyway? To ensure that a democratic government is installed? To ensure that the current regime is replaced? Replaced by whom? Some lesser evil? A pro-Western government? Simply claiming that one of the goals that goes along with the "war on terrorism" is freeing Afghanistan does not really state the objective. But goals not defined cannot be reached.

Having been in power for about a decade, the Taliban has not suddenly become an oppressive regime within the last few months. It has not changed; our perspective has.

Last spring, the ancient Buddha statues were blown up, as the Taliban does not agree with depicting God. Then, in the summer, the Shelter Now workers were arrested. These two actions by the Taliban have obviously drawn our attention back to this country, to the fact that an unjust government holds power there. Did the United States or its allies, however, speak of the need to free the people? Did they actually feel enraged enough to do so after the other occurrences? The Western world will only decide to take action when it feels endangered. As long as an unjust regime is in power somewhere, nothing will be done — after all, if they do not harm us, if they do not disrupt our lives, there is no incentive to act. Has anybody realized what message we are sending out by doing this? We will help the people of a country suffering under an oppressive regime only after the regime has turned against us and somehow harmed us. There are other countries suffering from unfair, unjust, inhuman governments and military regimes, too. They must feel that the only way to receive the attention necessary to solve their problems is by doing something outrageous. In deciding whom to help and how to do it, the situation must be evaluated on an objective basis, not only in connection with our interests. Helping a country free itself only if doing so strengthens one's position is not just aiding, it is also an egotistic way of furthering one's own interests. Nothing is wrong with paying attention to one's own pursuits, yet if aid is only awarded in these cases, it does seem very hypocritical, especially since no one actually admits it.

How does the United States know exactly what the Afghan people want after being freed? Do we even know that they want to be freed? To us, it may seem a given that they should be happy about all the 'help' they are receiving, but did anybody ever ask them? Or are we just imposing our view of the world on them?

We have no right to assume that we know what is best for a given country, a given people or a given situation. Simply because the West has the industrial and economic and thus political power to more or less run the world, it should not have the mission to reform the rest of the world to meet its standards. If countries ask for help, and if there is a way to aid a peaceful revolution (which is possible as seen in Eastern Europe and the German Democratic Republic), by all means, the necessary aid should be given. But it does not seem to be a very sensible thing to come into a country, free it, set up a government according to our wishes and then leave it by itself. Without the support of the people, this enforced — probably democratic — government cannot last. Warring with a threatening country under the pretense of attempting to free it is deceitful and dishonest. Nicoletta Mueller-Vogg is from Bad Homburg, Germany. She can be reached at nicolett@princeton.edu.