AFGHANISTAN: WE ARE AT WAR OR NO? The events of our many years of military mission in Afghanistan, cause overheating of the situation on the ground and the consequent increase in the frequency with which we hear sad news of attacks on our quota, such as those of other allied nations, often with soldiers killed or wounded, have recently jumped into the spotlight of public attention like few times before, and have raised some doubts and made creaking-established certainties even in those who had never before slightest waver in supporting the needs of the Italian contribution to the international effort to promote the physical reconstruction and civil engineering, essential security framework, of that battered country.
Mind you, the words vaguely accennanti to an improbable "withdrawal" of our soldiers pronounced in recent days, representatives from the Northern League should not be interpreted as something other than what is actually been: simple outbursts "paternal" in front of the sad fate of so many good guys, as defined in the same Defense Minister La Russa, independent of the role of political parties, which in fact are not really broke commitments to support the government line in the confirmation vote of military missions abroad. Are therefore completely unjustified, in that props, so the fears of the allies as the attempts to exploit the case by the opposition, keen to see signs of fractures within the governing coalition.
However, a disturbing question of whether the place and in many regards, but rather the nature of our military engagement in Afghanistan, after the rise of the Taliban, the loosening of certain caveats "national and sending in the theater also means more which typically offensive bombers "Tornado" (which now, from simple reconnaissance, it seems to be used are also better suited to their tasks of attack) seem to have gradually made the mission more like a real war campaign that not all 'Operation Peace "was originally much-vaunted, also known by the imperative to continue to use proven formulas of the usual euphemisms and" politically correct "in order to make these interventions abroad to digest how our public opinion, as long as they fniscono to take, sorry to say, ipocrsia bitter tones, as it becomes clear that the most appropriate terms to define certain situations would be very different now.
And also, since this is really a war, a war which we would be entitled to take part, and the famous vigendo always cited, and about more often inappropriately, Article 11 of the Constitution?
Meanwhile, it should be noted that since we in the middle of armed military contingents, the boundary between the factual situation of "peace" and "war" is always very smooth. Even the most classic of the proper mission of "peace", that is the one sent to supervise the observance of a ceasefire signed by the previously two contenders, one of type, so to speak, often assigned to "blue helmets" of the UN (eg Lebanon), it can turn into an episode of War in fact, even if not declared (formally, this, however, fallen into disuse for over sixty years, even if true conflicts "traditional"), if someone decides to break the truce and the soldiers on duty were attacked or involved in the clashes. Of course, the practical risk of degeneration of war is indeed much lower in this kind of missions that in operations like Afghanistan or Iraq, but if you really would be totally invalid, there would not even need to send international armed contingents. Exactly
in Afghanistan, following a brief objectively "combat", that is waged war ended with the dissolution of the Taliban regime, the protector of the Islamic terrorists responsible dell'ecatombe September 11, the quota for the NATO-led ISAF, which participates in the 'Italy, shall bear the burden of military support and protect the process of reconstruction material, moral, political and civil life of the country, in the power vacuum that has arisen.
E 'is also undoubtedly an "peace": the foreign troops, especially the Italian ones and someone else of the participating nations, engaged in service the people, public works etc.. are bound by strict caveats "and the use of weapons has been developed for the defense in a strict sense. Unlike in the case examined previously, however, this is not a truce monitors compliance reached between the two rivals, the "enemy" has not signed any agreement or made, it's just been soundly beaten in the open field, driven by levers power and forced into hiding, where he needs time to regroup before returning to danger.
In fact, after a few years of relative peace, which Duante in Afghanistan seemed to become almost a routine peacekeeping mission like many others, the Taliban insurgency explodes unexpected virulence, making some parts of the country particularly in scenarios guerrillas and forcing NATO units deployed there for a sudden change of attitude.
For Italy, deployed in areas less directly ivestite by the phenomenon, but still exposed to greater dangers and tensions, begin the crisis of identity and its role on the political balance to find, at the same time not to lose prestige among allies, who are pushing for a larger commitment of everyone in the theater, and save at least within the rhetorical image of the mission of "peace", which is essential, especially with a majority as that of two years Prodi, not to lose the parliamentary support to the mission.
The prudence with which they are veiled, the bad news coming from the front reaches sublime heights: For years, for example, each ad to attack suffered by our troops, be careful not to use the word "Taliban", but to give the blame for everything in general "hostile elements" and the existence of a well identified opponent does in fact think of a situation of ongoing war, while the 'hostile element "anyone who can meet even walking peacefully in any Italian city. Only very recently, with the change of political leadership in our country and the advent of the Minister of Defence as Ignazio La Russa, has begun to call a little 'more things by their name, ammettere con maggior franchezza la realtà della situazione, a lasciare un poco da parte certe forme che, ripeto, sanno troppo di tragica ipocrisia.
Siamo dunque in guerra o no, in Afghanistan? Da un punto di vista giuridico, sicuramente la risposta a tale quesito dev'essere negativa, ma è inutile negare che, laggiù, ci si trova a dover agire in un ambiente infestato da formazioni organizzate ed armate che si considerano perfettamente in guerra con noi, come con ogni altro appartenente alle forze militari internazionali, anche se noi ci ostiniamo a non ritenerci in guerra con loro. Diciamo che è una missione di pace nella quale le armi più idonee a fronteggiare le minacce esercitate non possono purtroppo essere soltanto un elemento almost decorative, as in other theaters, but must be used, without excess and sparingly, in the context of the tasks assigned to us as part of the international effort, but must be more than war, but also of "winning hearts and minds "of local real support for the reconstruction of any real dialogue with those with whom it was possible.
would be absurd to advocate the withdrawal right now, just because the mission is more difficult as we would want.
The stakes are too high and too decisive moment: to help bring security and stability in a corner of the world where the risk is remote that even the fifty Pakistani nuclear warheads could fall into terrorist hands is an act of defense is so vital that no course, no article 11 of the Constitution may be considered unlawful.
Tommaso Pellegrino
