Afghanistan will not be forgotten. During the two decades, the Finns also participated in the operation, which sometimes resembled war more than peacekeeping.
The Finns operate in Kabul and relatively peaceful northern Afghanistan. Still, you had to be ready for confrontations. The everyday life of the peacekeepers was to prepare for roadside bombs and suicide attacks.
In Afghanistan, you were operating in the middle of a foreign culture. Served as a peacekeeper Pirkka Hanttu considers the language barrier and the poor level of interpreters to be one of the biggest problems.
– In this way, good intelligence information was not obtained, which reduced efficiency, says Hanttu.
Lessons from the operation being evaluated
The task of the Finns was to maintain relations with the Afghan tribal community.
– In 2008, we met local village chiefs, says Hanttu, who was in the country four times.
– Later, the police, soldiers and other representatives of the state administration became more important.
Now the lessons of the two-decade-long operation in Western countries are being evaluated.
In Finland, the Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs published their report last year, and in December The Foreign Policy Institute’s critical report (you will switch to another service) the votes became public.
UM’s development policy advisor also took part in writing it Olli Ruohomäkiwho is thoroughly familiar with the situation in Afghanistan.
“It was not an exercise, but a war situation”
In an interview with , Ruohomäki estimated that Finland really had no choice. When the invitation to Afghanistan came, practically all European countries participated.
The NATO operation in Afghanistan made Finland an ally of the United States. According to Ruohomäki, the deepening of relations suited the goals of Finland’s national interest and security.
– A lot of lessons were learned from it, because it was not an exercise, but a war situation, Ruohomäki estimates.
Finland’s contribution was also noted in Washington.
“We had practiced the right things as professional soldiers”
Pirkka Hanttu, who worked as a peacekeeper and currently works on the EU’s security side, also emphasizes the experience gained in Afghanistan from international missions.
– We were able to state that the right things had been practiced as professional soldiers in Finland.
According to Ruohomäki, in the early years of the Afghanistan operation, the international community was overcome by an enthusiasm that was detached from the reality of Afghanistan.
– The situation was hazy, says Ruohomäki.
Ruohomäki sees that the Western alliance made a mistake by excluding the representatives of the Taliban movement from the peace process.
– Negotiations should have been reached already in 2001–2002, but the United States rejected cooperation with “terrorists”, says Ruohomäki.
“The Taliban won the Western powers by ruling”
The Taliban movement had support especially in the Pathan areas of the southern parts of Afghanistan. Later, it began to expand its sphere of influence.
– The Taliban took over one province after another and created a legal and administrative system, says Pirkka Hanttu.
– It defeated the Western powers by ruling, not by war.
He compares the situation in Afghanistan to poker.
– There are always new hands and deals. The war is not clearly lost or won, but the situation continues and preparations are made for it. The same man can be a policeman during the day and a Taliban at night. In one family, there could be representatives of several groups, Hanttu recalls.
According to Olli Ruohomäki, the collapse did not happen all at once. Faced with a sloping surface, Afghanistan slipped downhill, and the Taliban also began to attack cities, including Kabul.
The Afghan administration, on the other hand, was waiting for the Western alliance to sort things out. When the situation became difficult, according to Ruohomäki, it did not take responsibility for it.
“When the Americans left, others had to follow”
Then the US decided to withdraw from Afghanistan and the country’s president at the time Donald Trump began negotiations with the Taliban.
– The United States was the enabler of the operation, which meant bases, air support and logistics. When the Americans left, not even the British or Germany had the chance to stay, points out Ruohomäki.
The morale of the Afghan army and police also collapsed as the Taliban forces approached. The collapse of the regime was inevitable.
The desperation of those trying to flee the country was conveyed in the 2021 news pictures as chaos at the Kabul airport. Citizens and soldiers of Western countries were mostly allowed to go.
According to Ruohomäki, the end of the operation in chaos makes the West avoid similar companies.
– In the future, the projects will be smaller.
As the planes took off in the middle of the mountains surrounding the capital, Afghanistan also faded from the news pictures as the world’s attention was drawn to the Russian invasion.
“The women’s message is: don’t forget us”
In the past year and a half, the Taliban has greatly strengthened its position. Afghan women have once again been oppressed as second-class citizens.
of the Afghanistan Women’s Voice survey (you will switch to another service) compiled by journalist, nonfiction writer Katri Merikallio has interviewed women living in and fleeing Afghanistan via remote connections. Some of the interviewees speak under their own names, the identities of some are not revealed for security reasons.
– Their message is: don’t forget us, says Merikallio.
– They are terribly worried that the world will now turn its back when Ukraine is of interest to everyone.
One focus of the Finns’ peacekeeping project and development cooperation was supporting women’s rights.
“Finland’s equality work was not wasted”
Merikallio says that women who have been involved in equality projects, for example doctors, police officers and lawyers, still value Finland’s actions.
– They say that the Finns’ equality work in Afghanistan has not been wasted.
Merikallio, who previously visited Afghanistan as a journalist, has been assured that attitudes and values changed a lot at that time.
In many families, for example, going to school for girls was already taken for granted.
“Collaborators are now in mortal danger”
Now the Taliban has restored the patriarchal command, and the women who worked in the professions are once again prisoners of their homes.
Women’s demonstrations are suppressed with violence, and those who took part in them have disappeared without a trace, according to Merikallio.
– Finnish partners are also in real danger now, reminds Merikallio.
According to him, Finland has not evacuated any human rights defenders from Afghanistan, unlike many European countries, the United States and Canada.
– A humanitarian visa would be needed to help them. It’s busy now, says Katri Merikallio.
What kind of thoughts does the situation in Afghanistan evoke in you? You can discuss the topic on 16.2. until 23:00.
Read more:
Finland’s longest war ended this week – the Afghanistan operation cost hundreds of millions, but what did it achieve?