New International Effort Focusing On Afghanistan
Two international meetings this week will have a positive impact on the future of Afghanistan. The Moscow Conference organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Group on the 27th, will give a clearer picture of the impact of the situations in Afghanistan is having on neighboring countries. I am sure that ways will be found to jointly confront threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime which have spilled beyond national borders. Another important meeting, the International Conference on Afghanistan, organized by the Dutch Government and the United Nations in the Hague on the 31st, will assess the current political, security and development issues facing Afghanistan and its neighbors. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General has called for greater international cooperation to help Afghanistan tackles the security, economic and social problems that are thwarting the country’s development. These problems, he said, are harmful not only to the Afghan people, but they pose a major danger to the region and the world at large. Inside the country, the Afghan people are fighting each other dividing themselves either on the side of tribal leaders and/or the talibans, or on the side of the Hamid Kazai Government which they have elected into office. In Afghanistan, there are many countries involved. Japan has invested a large sum of money to road constructions and to sponsoring development projects in Pakistan which can open an opportunity for coordination of efforts between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan, Iran, United States, United Kingdom, India and the Russian Federation are training police and national security forces. There are international troups from NATO countries operate in the country. In Kabul, Tom Koenigs, the Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, heads a team of inter-agency staff of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), established in 2002. The UN office has helped the country in adopting a new Afghan Constitution and the holding of the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2004/2005. US President Barack Obama’s policy statement on Afghanistan is a welcome addition to all these ongoing international efforts and activities. Military action is a solution that might solve a short-term problem of terrorism, but it is not going to solve all the other long-term problems facing Afghanistan. Bombs and guns can harm and kill innocent people including the children who are living in tribal rural areas. It is encouraging for me to hear President Obama talked about a strategy that is comprehensive, and to read the new White paperof the Interagency Policy Group’s Report on U.S. Policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan which covers civilian assistance.
