Afghanistan's Role in International Security
Said T. Jawad
Delaware World Trade Center
05/23/2006
Ladies and Gentleman,
Good afternoon. I would like to thank the World
Affairs Council of Delaware for inviting me to address this
forum. I am delighted to be here. Today, I will speak about
Afghanistan’s role in international security, with the
primary focus on the fight against global terrorism, counter-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 the
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.
During the Cold War, Afghans and Americans joined
together in the fight against communism. After the Soviet withdrawal,
the strategic interests of the United States shifted. As our
partners in the battle against communism disengaged, the Afghan
people were left alone to cope with the flood of weapons and
extremism that were left behind. Weapons activated by extremism
have a perilous power. With extremely limited resources and
devastated infrastructure, Afghans were besieged by another
invasion, that of the extremist Taliban regime. . During the
reign of the Taliban, Afghans became the prime victims of terror.
The Taliban invited Al-Qaeda to base its campaign of terror
in Afghanistan and introduced a culture of intolerance that
was alien to Afghanistan. In recent years, the destinies of
the United States and Afghanistan have become bound together
once again as we have stood against the great threat of this
young century: global terrorism. September 11th taught us that
there is no such thing as a “local” security concern.
All security concerns are global.
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.
Afghans have embraced democracy and pluralism.
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.
The Afghan people, with the support of the international
community, have established all key institutions of civil society
and democratic governance, including a constitutional design,
parliament, human rights commission, electoral system, national
army and police force, political parties, as well as mechanisms
for political reintegration, women’s empowerment, and
disarmament of militias. The Government of President Karzai
is working to further develop these institutions to serve the
Afghan people.
3.6 million Afghan refugees have demonstrated
their vote of confidence in the Government by returning home.
Afghans from all over the world, including America and Europe,
are returning home.
The Nation of Afghanistan is strong, with a rich
history and culture. However, the State of Afghanistan is new
and young. We need to strengthen our state institutions that
were systematically destroyed through 30 years of invasion,
terror, and war. Last month, 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. Such signs of progress and good governance
are becoming the norm throughout Afghanistan.
Afghans today enjoy more political, economic,
and social rights than at any time in the history of the country.
Free press is flourishing and Afghans choose from a wide array
of indigenous print media, radio and television stations.
Much of that progress can be attributed to Afghanistan’s
booming economy. 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.
The January 31st 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 participating countries and launched the Afghanistan
Compact, the blue print for our future reconstruction. The compact
sets out an ambitious agenda with quantitative and time-bound
benchmarks for rebuilding Afghanistan. The international community
pledged $10.5 billion to help rebuild 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 significant 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% to save drinkable
water.
The twin onslaughts of narcotics and terrorism
pose the most serious challenge to Afghanistan’s reconstruction
and international security. It is no coincidence that the five
provinces most affected by the drug trade are also the most
affected by cross border terrorist infiltration. Drug traffickers
and terrorists are working hand in hand to destabilize Afghanistan.
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, paid in opium, from growers
and traffickers in Helmand and Uruzgan.
Narcotics are a key threat to Afghanistan’s
stability. 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
silver bullet solution that will solve the problem of narcotics.
Forceful poppy eradication, without adequate alternative livelihood
assistance, can alienate poor farmers and strengthen narco-traffickers.
Quick fix solutions will push many rural communities further
into poverty, making them dependent on non-state actors and
terrorists who offer an alternative solution to their money
problems. Because narcotics has global reach and global consequences,
our counter-narcotics Strategy is based on regional and international
cooperation. Our plan supplements eradiation with alternative
livelihood assistance, sustained rural and agriculture development,
public information campaigns and the strengthening of law enforcement
capacity, criminal justice system and interdiction.
Opium production in Afghanistan 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 vineyards
that took 30 years to cultivate and turned them into poppy fields.
If a poor farmer’s choice is between life and death, he
will choose life, even if his action is illegal. However, once
farmers are given a legitimate alternative, they will take the
legal and dignified option.
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.
So far, the alternative livelihood assistance
provided to Afghan farmers has been limited, uncoordinated,
ad hoc and funded outside our government’s budgetary framework.
Many farmers have not yet received the benefits and funds they
have been promised. This has undermined the credibility and
moral authority of the Afghan government. The Government of
Afghanistan is serious about eradication and interdiction. Last
year, we 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.
Improved security is crucial in certain parts
of Afghanistan, and we are securing the countryside through
military and non-military means. The Taliban are defeated, but
they have not yet been eliminated. They continue to threaten
the security and welfare of the people in the southern regions
of our country.
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. The reason for the security challenges
are three fold: Increased assistance to the Taliban, lack of
resources for the Government and the transition to NATO forces
in the South.
The Taliban are acquiring advanced weapons, sophisticated
explosive devices, better communications gear and more pickup
trucks and motorcycles from abroad. Taliban are crossing the
border in much larger groups of 15 to 20 heavily armed militants,
while terrorist training camps continue to operate with impunity
outside our borders.
To combat this insurgency 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 province,
for instance, in some districts that cover hundreds of square
miles, we have 10 to 15 poorly equipped police officers. Many
have not been paid for months, and have only outdated light
weapons, two clips of ammunition and perhaps an old Soviet jeep
to combat the well-supplied Taliban fighters. Their vulnerability—not
the alleged resurgence of the Taliban—is the reason for
the increase in police casualties. Much of the promised assistance
has not been forthcoming, and in the interim, brave Afghans
are dying as they attempt to defend their people. We have demanded
better equipment for our police force and resources to strengthen
district level administration. Local police are the only forces
that can prevent the Taliban from burning our schools at midnight
and bombing our clinics and mosques.
The province of Uruzgan has experienced no major
reconstruction activity. While there is no sympathy for terrorists
and those who wish to prolong Afghanistan’s suffering,
some people in deprived provinces are afraid and disillusioned.
The peace dividend that they were promised has yet to materialize.
The terrorists employ fear and intimidation tactically in order
to distance the people from the government and the coalition
forces. However, attempts to kill innocent doctors, teachers
and engineers, attack worshipers at mosques, and intimidate
aid organizations have met with increased solidarity among Afghanistan’s
people. Desperate acts of brutality only serve to remind the
Afghan people of the tyranny they have endured.
This summer, the 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, although the United States
will remain the largest single troop contributor and the leader
in anti- terror operations. British soldiers have been deployed
in Helmand since March, Canadians have been deployed in Kandahar
since February, and Dutch troops will soon be in Uruzgan. More
attacks and cross-border infiltrations are to be expected, as
terrorists attempt to take advantage of this transition and
test the courage and capability of the new troops. The terrorist
are hoping that by attacking some of the NATO members whose
troops are deployed in the South, they may be able to deter
them. NATO countries must be fully committed to fight terrorism
if they are coming to Afghanistan. We believe that this is a
very crucial mission that NATO cannot afford to fail. Afghans
are discouraged by some recent statements that imply that these
forces will not be engaging terrorists.
We welcome NATO’s expansion in the south
and southeast of Afghanistan, and the removal of national caveats
from their mandate in Afghanistan. When NATO rises to the task
in Afghanistan, they will prove that their forces are indeed
transforming themselves into a more dynamic expeditionary force.
A NATO force that aggressively engages the enemy will sending
a bold message to enemies of peace in Afghanistan, the region
and the world. Global security will be enhanced as the international
community demonstrates that they stand in solidarity and will
defend themselves against any terrorist aggression.
Afghans are determined to rebuild their country.
They have put their trust in the benefits of democracy by partnering
with the United States and the international community. Those
of you who have visited Afghanistan know how dramatically our
country has changed in such a short time. 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,
In Afghanistan, we have learned the hard way that
the best way to invest peace and security is to invest in education.
The first day of spring is also the first day of school for
children in Afghanistan. Just over a month ago, six million
children returned to schools all over the country. 34% of those
children were girls. As dark winter yields to the fifth bright
spring since the fall of the Taliban, we are witnessing a bright
new season for Afghanistan.
Two years ago, terrorists set fire to a school
in Logar province. The Moghul Khail School, consisting of two
large tents, was set ablaze at midnight. In some places that
would be the end of the story, but not in Afghanistan. The arsonists
did not triumph, because the next day, every little girl, every
student of Mughul Khail showed up at the school. They sat next
to the ashes of their burned out class rooms, under the blazing
sun, and insisted on continuing with their lessons. This is
the spirit of the Afghan people, when it comes to education.
The people of Afghanistan know that a better future is within
reach, and they aim to grab hold.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The United States and the international community
are strengthening global security by assisting Afghanistan in
the war on terror. Afghanistan is once again 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. And history has demonstrated that a world
with less barriers and more inter-connection is a more secure
world.
Thank you.
