It is reported that Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, witnessed the most serious riot since the downfall of Taliban government in 2001. On the morning of May 29th, a U.S. military vehicle rammed into the capital and ran into 12 local vehicles, leaving several casualties. But the US vehicle fled the accident scene and the soldiers in it fired at Afghan civilians who were trying to stop it. The incident irritated Afghan people. Thousands of angry civilians marched into the downtown area from the west and north of Kabul, ranting "Death to America". They set fire to police guard boxes, vehicles and office buildings occupied by foreign organizations. They even tried to raid presidential palace, ministry of interior, television stations and other important organs of the nation. Police fired shots at the rioters in the crucial situation, leaving about 20 demonstrators dead and many others injured. Afghan government declared curfew that day.

Kabul riot indicates a lot of things for three reasons. Firstly, it took place in the capital of Afghanistan. Secondly, it occurred and spread to other areas in a very short time. Thirdly, it points to US and Afghan government and overshadows the future of reconstruction of the Afghan society.

Afghanistan has established an immature regime that is based on a very weak foundation in the five years since the entry of US forces. Social unrests can be easily triggered by a small incident and spread quickly across the country, for Afghan civilians held hatred towards the foreign troops staying in their own land. The US is so proud of its own democratic politics that it thinks its political model can be applicable to all the countries across the world. However, reality defies its thoughts. Superficially the US gets Kabul under control, but it cannot control what Afghans think. The Kabul riot shows that the US has lost control of the social order of Afghanistan and what's more, the Afghan people.

A previous report says that for the first time in four years after the Afghanistan War, the US military forces admitted that Taliban forces had taken back some areas of North Afghanistan. Other than that, Taliban forces were reported to launch "spring offensive" which is a challenge to US plan to withdraw 3,000 soldiers from Afghanistan.

Currently, there are two armies in Afghanistan. One is the peacekeeping troops in charge of keeping the social order. The other is the US military force responsible for attacking Taliban. The US wants to let some of its soldiers in Afghanistan go back home. But only the US force has the ability to take active military actions against Taliban. If it withdrew, Taliban would probably take Afghanistan over again. It is absolutely no easy task to sweep away all Taliban in Afghanistan and Taliban ideology deeply rooted in the Afghan society. Even if Taliban completely collapsed, other anti-American military forces would rise. So the US is caught in a dilemma: there still exist anti-American military forces in Afghanistan so the US cannot leave the country; but the stay of US force is the cause of anti-American sentiments and rise of military forces. In history, Soviet Union failed to reconstruct the Afghan society. Soviet sent several hundred thousands of troops to Afghanistan in the hope of remaking the country in its way. Finally, it was beaten and had to withdraw. Naturally there were many reasons for Soviet defeat. Among them, Afghans' intrepidity and unyieldingness to outside power is the most important one. Like Soviet, the US easily entered the country and aimed to make a change to it in its own way. But seemingly the US underestimated the power of the Afghan people. Consequently it is caught in a dilemma.

Kabul riot is a tragedy of international politics and cultural shocks. It reflects the limitation of policy of strength and the absurdity of an arrogant culture. As long as the US troops stay in Afghanistan, incidents that can cause social unrest are likely to happen at anytime and anywhere, and a social psychological foundation for reconstructing Afghanistan are not easily to be laid.

By People's Daily Online