TEHRAN The European Union (EU) envoy in Pakistan, Kurt Juul, said on May 14 that the EU would soon send a delegation to northern Afghanistan to propose a new peace plan to the Afghan Northern Alliance.

Furthermore, Pakistani newspapers wrote that the U.S. administration intends to appoint a special envoy for Afghan affairs.

This indicates that the United States and Europe have stepped up their activities with regard to Afghanistan. The Western countries have used the destruction of Buddhist statues by the Taleban militia as a pretext for increasing their inference in Afghan affairs and launching a propaganda campaign against Islam.

Also, in response to the demand of its general public, the EU invited the Commander of Afghan Northern Alliance forces, Ahmad Shah Masood, to travel to Europe and address the European Parliament. The United States, for its part, dispatched some envoys to the areas controlled by the Taleban on the pretext of examining the condition of refugees.

The European Union and United States are gradually showing their rivalry in Afghanistan. The EU pays greater attention to the production and smuggling of narcotics from Afghanistan under the pressure from Europeans, who are provoked by the barbaric behavior of the Taleban militia. But the U.S. administration has used the presence of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan as a justification for its talks and striking a deal with the Taleban.

In other words, Washington is only trying to solve its problems in Central Asia through the Taleban, while EU is trying to come up with a plan to solve the Afghan crisis. However, the fact is that the European Union does not have the necessary political capability to solve crises in different parts of the world. On the other hand, the U.S. policy, which aims to exploit the present situation in Afghanistan and deal a blow to Iran, China and Russia, makes it difficult for the EU to compete with Washington in Afghanistan.

Considering that the peace initiatives by the European countries have so far failed, Washington is now in a better position to create tension in the region through the Taleban. Therefore, the EU, which has less influence over Afghanistan compared with the U.S., has got involved in the Afghan crisis in order to meet the demand of its general public and also in order to relegate Washington to a passive position on Afghanistan.