We can all be collectively outraged by the rumour that Italian forces in Afghanistan have bribed the Taliban warlords into leaving them alone, but it seems to me that this so called “evil” does manage to lay bare a very interesting proposition: just suppose that we were able to end the poverty in the entire region of Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan – even if by bribery – would the violence currently crippling those countries, cease to exist in such abundance?
I think the answer to the question above is “yes”. I also think that every self-respecting commentator on global politics would come to that same conclusion. Poverty goes hand in hand with backwardness, envy, segregation, hatred and violence. End poverty and you’ll end violence.
Alternatively: local accumulation of money in the pockets of one individual usually means a local accumulation of power with this individual. This is because power is strongly aligned with money. Money BUYS power. And power – in its turn – is the ability to monopolise violence. So if you condense all this in a single line, you’d get something like: “Accumulated money in an otherwise poor place, results in violence.” It’s no rocket science, if you ask me.
Somehow the Italians have a nose for these things. Traditionally, in Italy, they have been lubricating the government in all its layers with money for centuries. It has always been a valuable trick to get things done. I remember a story from an Italian house-mate, some 20 years ago. She told me that the proper way to speed up getting ones drivers licence, was by slipping some banknotes over the counter at the municipality, folded into the licence application form. If one paid a little extra like this, one could have the licence ready within days. If one omitted this commonly expected gesture, the licence was not to be obtained before half a year later.
The news of the Italians bribing the Taliban warlords does not come as a surprise to me at all. Maybe, what does surprise me, is that I didn’t think of it before. And, since I am at it, it also surprised me that the French – who now claim to be the victim of this shrewd scheme because they went into Afghanistan too lightly armed - didn’t come to this idea either. What were they actually thinking? Did they indeed come to the conclusion that the region was nice and quiet because of the brave, heroic and effective operations done by the Italian troops? It seems like it. The French took off to Afghanistan with relatively light armament. Nothing much had happened there and relatively little Italians were killed during their mission. And then the French had to take over. “So why”, they must have thought, “should we take in the heavy gear?”
Well, for one, because the mission might not be as safe as it appears. In Italy, everyone who has a business of some kind, knows that it is possible to pay off the very same people who could pose the greatest threat to you if you didn’t. This is how it’s done all over the country and it even has a special name; it is called the “Pizzo“, the so called protection money. In Italy, criminals and their victims have been living in a strange kind of symbiosis with each other, which seems to be widely accepted. Business people want to keep their shops safe from thieves and robbers, so they pay those same thieves and robbers to protect them against those – again – same thieves and robbers! And they don’t even call it extortion, they call it protection!
The resistance against the Pizzo is gaining momentum, but this is mainly initialised by the younger generation; young entrepreneurs and students who have their belly full of this cringing injustice. But still the tradition goes far back, and the commanders at the top of the armed forces should be very familiar with the Pizzo principle, so why not expect them to implement it in Afghanistan too?
I think the Italians were right into trying their proven pizzo tactic in Afghanistan. And it seems to have worked well for them. So I would advice the French to do exactly the same thing. Give those Taliban extortionists a fair share of money, and they’ll leave you alone. I can even imagine that it is cheaper than the munition for those big guns they now have to fly in. What is the price of a tank grenade again? Several thousand bucks? Give that to a Taliban chief and he will be able to pay for his subjects loyalty for months; as well as for an entire platoon of naked virgins who don’t require one to undertake an explosive suicide mission before they are willing to share the sweet honey.
It wouldn’t be the first time for the French to heed good advice from the Italians. It is – after all – the way the French learned how to cook and make wine as well. Admittedly, compared to the Italians, they are not very successful in either, but there is a first time for everything.
