EDITORIAL : THE OUTLOOK, AFGANISTAN

                 

 

More Rapid Pullout Than Expected

In a new report on the US Afghan mission, the New York Times on Monday June 06, 2011 said that "President Barack Obama's national security team is contem plating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden".

The report clearly demonstrated the fear that the exhausting war against terrorism in Afghanistan has left the contributing countries no more patience to see their money spent and their soldiers dying on the ground for a gloomy perspective. This is high time for the Afghan government to get a move on to find the necessary political determination to end militancy and build the capacity to aptly handle the duty once the international allies are gone. As the clock is ticking to announce the withdrawal deadline, these last moments are too vital for winning or losing the war and getting the mission accomplished. However, as ever, violence continues harassing people's lives and downplaying achievements in the country. The perspective of peace, development and stability remains erratic here. Fighting a fatiguing war, the government is yet too weak to stand on its own.

Following hard days in the recent decades, Afghans have got a clear outlook of how the country will handle the problems once the international forces make a complete withdrawal. They have stayed here since a decade and have managed the overall process. Only a month before the withdrawal process will kick off, the government of president Karzai is hesitant on its capability to accurately manage things after the pullout. A number of NATO officials share the same concern and have frequently given warnings on a premature withdrawal. But the intolerant calls for a complete pullout suggests that western nations are putting even more pressures on their governments to take troops home as Al-Qaeda's mastermind has been killed.

Reports said that as of this week, at least 1,493 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the US-led operation in Afghanistan in 2001. The human loss comes in addition to the huge amount of money spent on troops fighting here. US official accounts say the annual cost for each single soldier serving on the ground has hit a million dollars. This, amidst the hard times for US economy, can serve as the biggest pressure on Obama's administration to start bigger withdrawal as soon as military officials confirm the timing. So, there would be the need for a thorough review of the Afghan government's preparedness to take over the mission. Nonetheless, indications say that President Karzai doesn't seem agreeing that his government can fulfill the job as expected.

Real Source of Information

ISAF says, the local Afghans are now turning against Taliban and Al-Qaida. They cooperate more than before by providing information about insurgents. That is good news as it means the public outreach programs launched by ISAF and Afghan government have started giving results. Success in Afghanistan seems to be improbable to achieve without winning the trust of the people. The factor that has been widening the gap between people and government and its western backers, is civilian killing. Despite that, if the number of people cooperating with security forces is increasing, it can be deemed a positive progress.

The reporting by local Afghans about suspicious people would result in prevention of terror attacks and would save lives of many Afghans. In an Afghan society, it is very difficult for security forces to recognize the insurgent who hide among civilian population wearing clothing similar to that of local people. It is the common Afghans who have better knowledge about people's activities in their districts. Therefore, they are important source of gathering useful information of insurgent's hideouts.

Public awareness programs must continue. Still the Taliban have many people on their side. Taliban preaches against foreign presence in Afghanistan, tries to motivate common Afghans towards fight against westerners and do whatsoever it can to recruit more people into its ranks. This process will continue for many other years. It is necessary to open the minds of people and make them clearly distinguish between a democratic system and Taliban's imposed so called sharia government.

The increasing trend among people to cooperate with government also indicates that Afghans are tired of long term conflicts and fights. Now they want peace and harmony to prevail in their lives. Also, majority of Afghans are in favor of long term international presence in their country. That is because withdrawal of international community without having fixed major issues here, would result in further destruction of Afghanistan which is neither in benefit of Afghans nor the world.

Govt. Fails to Spend or Not Willing to Spend?

According to reports, in the previous fiscal year, the government of Afghanistan has been able to disburse $937 million or 40 percent of the total $2.3 billion developments funds it had on hand and in control. Therefore, in the current FY budget, the development budget has been cut by 40 percent. With this low budget execution rate, the government of Afghanistan complains of having control over lesser portion (20 percent) of the total funds donated, albeit this concern was addressed in the London Conference on Afghanistan in January 2010. Based on the commitments made in the conference, 50 percent of donor funds would be channeled through the system of Afghan government by early 2012, provided implementation rate is increased and corruption is controlled.

The government maintains that the biggest hurdle to bettering execution rate is the deteriorated security situation. But most of the development funds go to the most insecure provinces of Afghanistan where, at current, numerous development projects are underway. In the last decade, the concentration of government and its national backers have been on these provinces. Unlike that, the secure provinces, such as those in the center of Afghanistan, have been kept deprived and very little or no development is observable.

In Bamyan, for instances, no development work has taken place throughout the last decade. Although it deserves the right of being on the priority list of government, the highways connecting Bamyan to center and other provinces have remained rough and tough. The popular, Band-e-Amir in Bamyan which has given the status of first national park of Afghanistan has not gained any attention. A month ago the people of Bamyan protesting the lack of attention from government acclaimed a donkey for its service. They also put a big lantern at a city roundabout for being deprived of electricity in this modern age.

Like Bamyan, there are so many other provinces that have remained out of government and international attention, despite being the most peaceful regions. If insecurity is the major cause of low execution rates of development projects, why does not the government shift them to secure provinces of Afghanistan?