Building Bridges: Afghanistan's Future Strategy
Ambassador Said T. Jawad
National Press Club
05/12/2006
Ladies and Gentleman,
Good afternoon. I would like to thank the National
Press Club’s Newsmaker Committee for inviting me to address
this forum. I am delighted to be here. Today, I will speak about
Afghanistan’s future strategy with the primary focus on
security, narcotics and NATO expansion to the South.
Historically, Afghanistan has been the center-stage
when great regional and global changes have taken place. From
the conquests of Alexander the Great, to the emergence of Afghan
empires, from the Cold War to the global war against terror,
Afghanistan’s destiny has been connected with regional
and global politics. Afghanistan is a land bridge connecting
Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.
Today, Afghanistan is once more playing its historic
role in bridging cultures, countries and civilizations. Over
60 counties are helping rebuild Afghanistan. 36 countries have
troops in Afghanistan. 41 countries are helping train and equip
our national army.
In the past four years, we have established all
key institutions of building a civil society and democratic
governance, including constitutional design, parliament, human
rights commission, electoral system, national army and police
force, political parties, as well as mechanisms for political
reintegration, women empowerment, and disarmament of militias.
We have experienced double digit economic growth
in the past four years, and made considerable progress in connecting
the country by building roads and telecommunication systems.
Afghans today enjoy more political, economic, and social rights
than at any time in the history of the country. Free press is
flourishing.
86% of eligible voters participated in our presidential
elections. When 8.4 million Muslims, Afghan men and women, proudly
and patiently lined up to vote for their president and parliament,
they not only demonstrated their competence, and commitment
to democracy in Afghanistan, but also sent a strong message
to terrorists and extremists all over the world. 3.6 million
Afghan refugees have demonstrated their vote of confidence in
the Government by returning home. Six million children are going
to school.
The new State of Afghanistan is young and less
experienced. But the Nation of Afghanistan is strong, with a
rich history and culture. However, we need to build our state
institutions that were systematically destroyed through 30 years
of invasion, terror, and war. Two weeks ego our new parliament
approved the list of the cabinet submitted by President Karzai.
They rejected 5 out of 27 nominees. The approval and rejection
of the ministers were completely based on merit and past performance
of the ministers. Once again members of the parliament proved
that they are not divided along ethnic or factional lines. The
new parliament is an important and capable institution that
completes our state’s constitutional design.
The recent donor conference in London reasserted the international
consensus that has been the foundation of the Afghan people’s
partnership with the family of nations. We presented Afghanistan’s
National Development Strategy to the 60 countries that participated
in the conference. We launched the Afghanistan Compact, as the
blue print of our future reconstruction and development strategy.
The compact sets out an ambitious agenda with quantitative and
time-bound benchmarks for rebuilding Afghanistan. Providing
that the international community continues to stand with us,
Afghanistan in 2010 will be a stable and relatively prosperous
state.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have come a long way, but we are not out of
the woods. Despite the incredible progress Afghanistan has made,
we are aware of the fact that we are facing serious challenges.
Afghanistan is 6th poorest country in the world. Only 6% of
the country has access to electricity and 23% has access to
save drinkable water. Narcotics and terrorism are among our
most serious challenges. They are connected and part of the
same problem. The proceeds of narcotics feeds into terrorism
and the terrorists provide protection to narco- traffickers.
We know for a fact the Taliban are collecting a 10% tax (or
Usher), paid in opium, from growers and traffickers in Helmand
and Uruzgan.
Narcotic is a key threat to Afghanistan’s
stability. Some recent news stories have hinted to possible
links of government officials with narco-traffikers. Let me
assure you, that if we are provided with credible evidence,
we will act upon it swiftly. We have removed three governors
in the problematic provinces of Zabol, Helmand and Uruzgan.
The Government has established, with the support of the international
community, an Afghan Counter-Narcotics Police force as well
as a Central Narcotics Tribunal, a special court to prosecute
narco-traffickers.
Let me make one point very clear: There is no
quick fix or silver bullet solution for the international problem
of narcotics in Afghanistan. Opium production is the result
of 30 years of war and destruction. One reason that people have
turned to cultivating poppy over the past 30 years has been
for lack of hope for tomorrow, or for the future. It takes only
three months to harvest a poppy crop. In an environment of social,
economic and political insecurity, people have leveled heir
vineyards and pomegranate arched in the past 30 years to turn
them into poppy fields. If your choice is between life and death,
you choose life, even if that means your actions are illegal.
Give the farmers an alternative, they will take the legal and
dignified option.
Forceful poppy eradication, without adequate alternative
livelihood assistance, can alienate poor farmers and strengthen
narco-traffickers. Such quick fix solutions would push many
rural communities further into poverty and dependency on terrorists.
We need the people’s support to fight terrorism. Many
farmers have not yet received the benefits and funds they have
been promised. We need to invest in sustained rural and agriculture
development to effectively fight narcotics.
Our Strategy to fights narcotics is based on eradication
with alternative livelihood assistance, rural development, building
law enforcement capacity and criminal justice systems and interdiction,
as well as information campaign and regional and international
cooperation.
So far, the alternative livelihood assistance
provided to Afghan farmers has been limited, uncoordinated,
ad hoc and funded outside our government’s budgetary framework.
This has undermined the credibility and moral authority of the
Afghan government. According to our national development strategy,
by 2010 we will have linked 40 percent of villages with roads,
increasing access to markets, employment and social services.
25 percent of rural households will have access to electricity
for the first time in Afghanistan’s history. As we improve
security and the Government’s ability to deliver services,
we create viable economic choices for Afghans who are seeking
a way out of the drug trade. By bringing roads, electricity,
and micro-credit we are offering a long-term solution to this
invasive menace.
We are serious about eradication and interdiction.
Last year, we have seized and destroyed 143 metric tons of opium
and 35.5 metric tons of heroin in 2005. We have also shut down
247 heroin labs and arrested or detained 32 traffickers.
This year, we have launched a comprehensive eradication
campaign led by the Governors in 22 provinces throughout Afghanistan.
The coordinated efforts of the Afghan Counter Narcotics Police,
the Afghan Eradication Force, and the Afghan National Army and
Police Force with support from the Coalition forces and the
US Drug Enforcement Administration have been remarkable. The
eradication is underway, and so far eradication exceeds 23,000
hectares. The majority of poppy eradication has taken place
in major producing provinces such as Balkh (39%), Kandahar (20%)
and Helmand (17%). The Ministry of Counter Narcotics and The
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) are jointly
monitoring and verifying all poppy eradication campaigns.
Improving security is crucial in certain parts
of the country, especially at the South. It must be to be done
through military and non-military means. The Taliban continue
to threaten the security and welfare of the people.
We are experiencing increased terrorist activities
in five provinces: Zabol, Hemand, Uruzgan, Kandahr and Kunar,
all bordering Pakistan. I visited Uruzgan last week. The security
situation has deteriorated. We may lose a lot of the ground
that we have gained thus far. The reason for the security challenges
are three fold:
First, Taliban are acquiring advanced weapons,
sophisticated explosive devices and better communications gear
as well as more pick up trucks and motorcycles from abroad.
Taliban are crossing the border in much larger groups of 15
to 20 heavily armed militants. Terrorist training camps continue
to operate outside our borders.
Second, we, as the government of Afghanistan,
are not provided with adequate resources to significantly expand
our security presence and deliver services and protection in
some large districts. In Uruzgan, for instance, a district that
covers hundreds of square miles, we have 10 to 15 police officers,
all poorly trained and equipped, unpaid for months, with old
and outdated light weapons, two clips of ammunition and an old
jeep. They are very vulnerable and casualties are increasing.
We need and demand better equipment for our police force and
resources to strengthen district level administration. We have
been promised assistance and it is not forthcoming. Local police
is the only forces that can prevent the Taliban from burning
our schools at midnight and bombing our clinics and mosques.
People are now insisting that they want their own initiative
to defend themselves.
There is no sympathy for terrorists and those
who wish to prolong Afghanistan’s suffering, but some
people in deprived provinces like Uruzgan are afraid, disillusioned
and disinterested. The peace dividend they were promised have
yet to materialize. No major reconstruction activities have
taken place in this very poor province. The terrorists employ
fear and intimidation in order to distance the people from the
government and the coalition forces. They kill teachers, doctors
and the engineers who are building roads and clinics.
The third reason is the expansion of NATO to south.
The terrorist are hoping that by attacking some of the NATO
members who are deploying troops at the South, they may be able
to deter them.
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force
will assume more responsibilities in the South and Southeast.
Their troop numbers will expand from 9,000 to approximately
21,000 by November. British soldiers have been deployed in Helmand
since March and Canadians have been deployed in Kandahar since
February, while Dutch troops are going to Uruzgan. More attacks
and cross-border infiltrations are to be expected, as terrorist
and Taliban attempt to take advantage of this transition and
test the courage and capability of the new troops. The United
States will remain the largest single troop contributor and
the leader in anti- terror operations. NATO countries must be
fully committed to fight terrorism if they are coming to Afghanistan.
We welcome NATO’s expansion in the south
and southeast of Afghanistan, and the removal of national caveats
from their mandate in Afghanistan. We believe that this is a
very crucial mission that NATO can not afford to fail. Afghans
are discouraged by some recent statements that imply that these
forces will not be engaging terrorists. The Cold War has ended
and NATO must remain determined and capable to go out and fight
terrorism, the only true enemies of the humanity and global
security, effectively and decisively.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Afghans have put their trust in the benefits of
democracy and partnership with the United States and the international
community. Afghanistan is not Iraq. Too often, our countries
are linked in the media. Conditions, success and challenges
are very different in the two countries. Afghans welcome the
presence of US and ISAF troops as well as the engagement of
the entire international community. We are truly grateful for
your assistance. Afghans value the sacrifice of your solders
fighting alongside Afghans to defend freedom and to make Afghanistan,
America and the world a safer place.
Ladies and gentlemen; today, Afghanistan is once
more playing its historic role in bridging cultures, countries
and civilizations. Where extremists have tried to build walls,
our strategy for the future is to build bridges.
Thank you.
