Attack on US consulate in Afghanistan may cast a shadow over Syria debate

Taliban insurgents in Herat explode truck bomb outside former five star hotel killing three local security force members.

|
Hoshang Hashimi/AP
A damaged vehicle sits in front of the U.S. consulate after an attack by a car bomb and a gunfight in Herat Province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 13, 2013. Taliban militants attacked the US consulate in western Afghanistan on Friday morning, using a car bomb and guns to battle security forces just outside the compound in the city of Herat.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a dawn attack on a US consulate in Afghanistan Friday that killed at least three locals, and that underlines continued security woes in the country 12 years after the US intervened there.

The attack may also underline for critics the risks of striking Syria, as the US scrambles to respond to the alleged use of chemical weaponry in late August by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The event took place in Herat in the western part of Afghanistan reports Reuters, when a bomb in a truck exploded outside the gates of the US consulate and a gunbattle between security forces and gunmen ensued.

The US State Department said in a statement that a truck approached the US consulate at 5:30 a.m. local time with a group of attackers carrying rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

They opened fire on the consulate before the truck exploded, damaging the front gate. "It appears American and contract security personnel addressed any attackers who managed to enter the compound," the statement read. "It appears some attackers were wearing suicide explosive devices."

Violent incidents in Afghanistan have been on the rise as US and allied forces begin to draw down and then formally depart in 2014. As the BBC notes: “This attack – carried out in the shadow of the anniversary of 9/11 – is a demonstration of the ability of insurgents still to disrupt Afghanistan 12 years after the US toppled the Taliban.” 

A US embassy spokesperson said from Kabul that all US personnel in the area were safe. Local officials on the ground say that three Afghans have been killed, including a police officer and translator, and 17 others injured in the attack.

The Taliban issued a statement shortly after the attack saying: "Our aim for this attack is to show the Americans that they are not safe anywhere in this country.”

As the US withdraws troops and plans to depart entirely by next year, insurgent strikes have been on the rise. They have spread from the country's south and east, to the relatively more peaceful areas in the north and west.

The Los Angeles Times notes that the Taliban aims to hasten the departure of foreign troops, “allowing it to boast of success in protecting national sovereignty and to strengthen its hand against rivals in the post-2014 political landscape.”

The attack comes as the world weighs how to respond to an alleged chemical attack near Damascus by Mr. al-Assad's government on August 21.

US President Obama has insisted that a military response would be limited in nature and not turn into years-long affairs such as those in Iraq or Afghanistan.

 "This is not Iraq and Afghanistan. This is not Libya, a sustained air campaign," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said on "Fox News Sunday." 

"This is not boots on the ground," Mr. McDonough added. "This is a targeted effort to reinforce a prohibition that goes back nearly 100 years. A prohibition that has benefited our troops greatly, by the way."

But many Americans disagree, including the majority of Iraq and Afghan war vets in the US Congress, reports the Washington Post.

Facing a public opinion backlash, the US has been exploring a disarmament plan with Russia for Syria. US and Russian foreign ministers are in a second round of talks in Geneva over how to secure Syria's chemical weaponry, even as US officials, as well as French officials who have been the strongest supporters of a US-led strike, say that an eventual intervention is not off the table.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Attack on US consulate in Afghanistan may cast a shadow over Syria debate
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/2013/0913/Attack-on-US-consulate-in-Afghanistan-may-cast-a-shadow-over-Syria-debate
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe