Afghanistan: Will the US and Iran Work Together?

Interestingly, at a recent summit on Afghanistan the US sought out Iran’s support on issues in Afghanistan. According to the April 1, 2009 Washington Post, Iranian diplomat Akhundzadeh said Iran is ready to engage in reconstruction efforts to stop drug trafficking but he was critical of the US plan to boost troops in Afghanistan. He went on to say that the people of Afghanistan know their country best and the presence of foreign troops will not help matters. Putting differences between Iran and the US aside, Iran seems to understand the issues in Afghanistan better than the US. The problem in Afghanistan is mostly crime related. Many of the madrassas there have been taken over by criminals and become criminal breeding grounds. The main issues are sex trafficking of young boys and drugs. Iran is suggesting an approach that would involve not so much war but stopping crime and engaging in reconstruction. After all, wasn’t it the United States’ failure to conduct reconstruction in Afghanistan that created this problem in the first place? After the US supported Taliban to fight of the Russians, the US abandoned Afghanistan at a time when the country needed reconstruction badly. Now that the results of that failure are easy for anyone to see, the US thinks it should have a war in Afghanistan. Since when was crime fought with a war? Shouldn’t the US own up to its own failures and at least take into account what the people of Afghanistan want for their own country? The US already failed there once, is it wise to ignore the people there and possibly fail again. Reconstruction is the key in this issue and it’s the sole reason that Afghanistan is still a problem. Indeed, it would be great if the US and Iran work together in Afghanistan, but perhaps the US should really listen to Iran’s perspective as well, after all it seems much more down to earth.