11 February 2009
Analysis: Afghanistan Needs the World’s Help
Obama urges intensified global effort to rebuild shattered nation
Washington — The world cannot afford to abandon the people of Afghanistan, says President Obama, who is calling for an intensified global effort to help its people eliminate terrorist safe havens and rebuild their shattered nation after decades of conflict.
“With respect to Afghanistan, this is going to be a big challenge,” Obama said in a February 9 press conference. “We are going to need more effective coordination of our military efforts with diplomatic efforts, with development efforts, with more effective coordination with our allies, in order for us to be successful.”
During his presidential campaign, Obama identified the stabilization of Afghanistan as a top U.S. foreign policy priority. As a U.S. senator, Obama traveled in the region, where he witnessed an increasingly active insurgency operating from safe havens across the border in Pakistan, a burgeoning narcotics trade in the country’s southeastern provinces, and corruption in the new Afghan government. Combined, these problems threaten to roll back progress made in the South Asian nation since an international coalition toppled the Taliban regime in 2001.
Upon taking office, Obama ordered a three-tier policy review of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan from top White House advisers, the Pentagon, and General David Petraeus, America’s top military commander for the region. The White House seeks to complete the review before Obama travels to Europe in April for the NATO 60th Anniversary Summit, hosted by France and Germany, press secretary Robert Gibbs said February 10.
The United States will seek both advice and aid from allies and partners worldwide in formulating a new strategy, Vice President Joe Biden said in a February 7 speech to the Munich Conference on Security Policy. (See “Biden Lays Out U.S. Foreign Policy Goals, Approaches.”)
After taking office, Obama named veteran diplomat and Balkan peacemaker Richard Holbrooke as his special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Holbrooke joined Biden at the Munich conference before departing for initial consultations with leaders in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
“There is one theater of war, straddling an ill-defined border,” Holbrooke said. “On the western side of that border, NATO and other forces are able to operate. On the eastern side, it’s the sovereign territory of Pakistan.”
Pakistani officials have offered to join in the strategic review, Holbrooke said, a welcome sign of the need to bring all of Afghanistan’s neighbors to the table, as well as to help Islamabad’s new civilian government face the economic pressure and security challenges from its own extremists. (See “Special Representative Departs for Afghanistan, Pakistan.”)
More than 40 nations are active in Afghanistan today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate panel January 27, along with hundreds of aid organizations, development banks and international bodies, including the United Nations, the European Union and NATO. European allies operate 13 of 26 Provincial Reconstruction Teams supporting local development across Afghanistan.
Afghanistan topped the agenda in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first official meetings with several European allies, including British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on February 4, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on February 5, and Czech Republic Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on February 10. The Czech Republic currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency.
Other key appointments further reflect Obama’s commitment to engage with allies to forge a new way forward in Afghanistan. His national security adviser, retired Marine General James Jones, served as America’s top military commander in NATO from 2003 to 2006. He oversaw the transition of security responsibilities from U.S.-led coalition forces to the 41-nation, 40,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
“This will be a shared effort with our allies,” Jones said in a February 8 speech at the Munich conference. “Afghanistan is not simply an American problem; it is an international problem.”
There is no purely military solution in Afghanistan, Petraeus said in Munich, but a short-term infusion of forces will be essential to arresting the current downward spiral of instability.
While some countries may be reluctant to make further commitments, Petraeus urged allies to consider Germany’s pledge during the Munich conference to deploy additional army and police training teams to Afghanistan — a key component to consolidating future security gains. Civilian expertise is also needed to help Afghans improve their governing bodies.
“First and foremost, our forces and those of our Afghan partners have to strive to secure and serve the population,” Petraeus said. “Together with our Afghan partners, we have to work to provide the people security, to give them respect, to gain their support, and to facilitate the provision of basic services.”
International efforts have already made a difference, says the U.S. State Department. It reports that international aid has brought basic medical care to more than 85 percent of Afghan citizens today, compared to only 9 percent in 2003. More than 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) of new and upgraded roads have opened new trade and development opportunities. More than 5.7 million Afghan children are enrolled in schools, including more than 2 million girls, who were denied education under the Taliban.
These are positive developments, but they are only the first steps on what Holbrooke says will a long road to recovery for Afghanistan — a path that appears longer today than it did in 2001.
“There is no magic formula in Afghanistan,” Holbrooke said. “What is required in my view are new ideas, better coordination within the U.S. government, better coordination with our NATO allies and other concerned countries, and the time to get it right.”
Obama’s remarks are available on America.gov.
What actions should President Obama consider to help bring security and stability to Afghanistan? Comment on America.gov’s blog.
