Rolf Tophoven is a renowned terrorism expert and has accompanied the Bundeswehr several times on its mission in Afghanistan. In an interview with FOCUS Online, Tophoven talks about the Taliban’s secret guerrilla strategy, the cardinal mistake of Western Afghanistan policy and whether we should now expect more terrorist attacks in Germany again.
Focus: In your opinion, what was the biggest mistake made by the Western states in recent years?
Tophoven: Western politicians never understood the country. For them, it was always just a foreign mission in a far, distant country. They wanted to establish democracy and human rights in this country in a rush. The mentality of the Afghans was not understood. Western values cannot simply be imposed on Afghanistan, especially not overnight. That was a fatal misjudgement.
You were there yourself. How did you perceive this misjudgement on the ground?
Tophoven: A soldier told me that there was a mosque in an Afghan village that had been built with German money. The money came from the Foreign Ministry. We later found out that this mosque was used for incitement against the West. It was a hotspot for Islamist propaganda. This was reported to the responsible personnel from the Foreign Ministry. They knew about it. The answer: “Our money is earmarked.”
What became apparent after this incident was that the ministries involved in the mission in Afghanistan did not communicate with each other. There was no coordination or central office. Everyone had their own projects.
What impact does the current situation now have on international terrorism? Will there be more attacks in Germany again?
Tophoven: Many are now expecting a swelling wave of refugees from Afghanistan. Should this happen, it cannot be ruled out that one or two of them will be so radicalised by their understanding of Islam that acts of violence will occur. But these are only speculations. A Taliban will not come to Germany and carry out an attack here. He is not socialised here, he does not feel comfortable here. Especially not now that the Taliban are in power in Afghanistan.
The much more decisive question will be whether Afghanistan will again become a terrorist biotope like it was before 2001. After all, it was from there that al-Qaida planned the 9/11 attacks.