Doctors Without Borders finds one frontier they won't cross

More evidence is mounting that Afghanistan is still one of the earth's dark holes of humanity. US policy there, far from fostering positive change, is contributing to more suffering and the creation of more enemies.

After 24 years of uninterrupted service in Afghanistan Doctors Without Borders is laying off their 1,400 aid workers and leaving. It's interesting to note that the US mistakes are two-fold. The first is the obivious fact that Bush invaded, toppled the Taliban, then switched military focus to Iraq before the country was secure. The second, and less obvious, points to a a danger for all who attempt to use the US military hammer to pound the guerilla/terrorist/counter-revolutionary nail:

The US-led coalition has made the situation worse by blurring the line between humanitarian work and military operations. During the war in 2001, Hawkins said, US soldiers were driving around in civilian clothes in white cars, taking on the appearance of humanitarian aid workers. In May, the Pentagon was forced to apologise for dropping leaflets in southern Afghanistan which promised humanitarian assistance if local people gave the coalition information about the Taliban and al-Qaida.

She despaired that military campaigns were employing "hearts and minds" strategies more and more often, making it difficult for aid workers to maintain their aura of all-important impartiality. If armies are handing out food assistance and medical equipment, it becomes harder for locals to tell the aid workers from the occupiers.

The subject of the military's increasing diplomatic influence combined with the complete lack of clarity of its role in conquering then rebuilding countries was explored brilliantly in Dana Priest's book, The Mission, published last year. How can we invade and conquer a country with special forces and pimply faced kids, then ask those same people to turn into mayors and dog catchers, doctors and construction workers? How will it work when the military purposefully corrupts the nation-building process by asking the natives to snitch for medicine and food, thereby painting bulls-eyes on the backs of aid workers for the sake of security? It won't. US taxpayers will be sponsoring an endless cycle of apparently random violence in the world's bleakest places. This cycle can only lead to the death, literally and figuratively, of aid organizations and the further entrenchment of anti-american ideologies. That's bad policy.