News aggregators are currently being overwhelmed with the story of the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, which just happened earlier today.
Because this story is so recent, it is likely that more details will be released as time passes. Although there are many reasons why this is an important story, the first thing that came to my mind was a story that we read for class last week. That one was about some al-Qaeda members who the Americans thought were on their side but were actually just feigning coversion to get in close enough to kill some top American officials.
Today, Rabbani apparently knew that the men who were coming to his house had been insurgents but they had set up the meeting to 'talk peace.' Security was likely a concern for the former president and other top officials, so you would assume that proper measures were in place, however the article does say that "turbans are a symbol of reverence in Afghanistan and are rarely checked, but have been used in recent high-profile assassinations."
Although no group, as of yet, has taken responsibility for that attack, Rabbani was likely targeted due to his role as the official in charge of the government peace talks with the Taliban.
As a result of this bombing, current Afghan President Hamid Karzai chose to cut short his trip to the US for the UN General Assemby in order to return home. This makes you wonder if the timing of the attack was symbolic since the US has been helping Rabbani with the peace negotiations, or if the timing was just a matter of convenience.
Either way, the incident shows that the Taliban and its supporters are not going to willingly work with the Americans or anybody else promoting peace in their name or associated with them in any manner. It is not a promising sign for the state of the country, especially with the "anticipation of the withdrawal of most US forces from the country in 2014."
- Danielle
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