In this bulletin:

• President Karzai Condemns the Killing of Civilians in Lebanon
• Nato inherits south Afghan force
• Afghan plan needs five years: Nato
• Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan Remarks on the Transfer of Authority
• France urges Pakistan to stop Taliban infiltration
• Taliban extremists attack governor; kill 8 civilians in Nangarhar
• 50-day operation kills 613 militants in Afghanistan
• Taliban 'no threat' to leadership
• President Karzai Instructed That Emergency Aid Be Provided to the Families Affected by the Earthquake in Kunduz Province
• Turkey to send more troops to Afghanistan
• Italian forces to remain in Afghanistan — for now
• Journalists thrashed in Kabul
• Afghan pact working well but support still needed
• France rejects UN's call to reconsider deportation of Franco-Tunisian
• Generals urge Musharraf rethink
• Afghan democracy

President Karzai Condemns the Killing of Civilians in Lebanon - Date of Release: 31 July 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, strongly condemned the killing of 57 civilians by Israeli air strike in Lebanon.

The President expressed his concern at the continuation of war and civilian casualties and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a ceasefire.

The President called on the international community to assist in seeking a peaceful settlement to the current crisis.

The President, on behalf of the people of Afghanistan, expressed his deep sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Lebanon.

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Nato inherits south Afghan force – BBC

Nato forces have formally taken control of military operations in southern Afghanistan from the US-led coalition which overthrew the Taleban in 2001.

The chief of US-led coalition forces symbolically handed over command at a ceremony in a dusty airfield near the southern city of Kandahar.

British Lt Gen David Richards said the new Nato-led force wanted to deliver "peace, stability and prosperity". The south has recently been at the centre of an upsurge of violence.

Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks since May in what is the traditional heartland of the Taleban. This is the first land deployment outside Europe for the Nato forces led by the UK and Canada.

International troop numbers have been building up for months, ahead of the expansion, and there are now double the number of troops in the region.

The 8,000 soldiers will now go under the umbrella of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in six provinces in the south: Day Kundi, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimroz, Uruzgan and Zabul.

"I hope and believe the huge significance of this renewed international commitment will not be lost on the majority who yearn for peace, stability and increased prosperity we came here to deliver," Lt Gen Richards said as he formally took command of the mission.

"These millions of people should be reassured that they will not be let down. "At the same time, those few thousand who oppose the vast majority of Afghan people and their democratically elected government should note this historic day and should understand they will not be allowed to succeed," he said.

But the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kandahar says they take control of an area which has seen a dramatic deterioration in security over the past few months.

Over the weekend, coalition and Afghan forces said they had killed 20 militants in various clashes in the south and east.

In addition, 10 insurgents were said to have been killed on Sunday in the south-east. In an interview with the BBC, Lt Gen Richards said under his leadership, Isaf forces would be "taking the fight into the depths of the provinces".

He said counter-insurgency efforts were a "critical part of the reconstruction effort", and warned insurgents that "the writing's on the wall... they won't succeed".

Analysts say the failure to rebuild roads, schools and hospitals has fuelled sympathy for the insurgents, and the purpose of this mission is supposed to be to provide security for such reconstruction.

Later this year, Isaf will extend its command across the whole of Afghanistan, by moving into the east of the country.

Afghan plan needs five years: Nato – AFP 07/31/2006

KANDAHAR - Afghanistan will likely require the current military set-up involving thousands of foreign troops for the next three to five years, the commander of the force led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) has said.

Thousands of foreign troops are in the country, some with a US-led coalition that toppled the Taliban government in 2001 and now hunting Taliban insurgents, and some with Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Isaf took command of foreign forces in the volatile south on Monday, expanding from the relatively calmer north and west of the country and the capital Kabul where it has been promoting stability and reconstruction.

"In the military sense, three to five years is probably right," Isaf commander Lieutenant General David Richards said at a change of command ceremony when asked how long Afghanistan needed the current arrangement.

He said Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was counting on the international community having a presence in the war-shattered country for 10 to 15 years.

De Hoop Scheffer emphasised on a recent visit to Afghanistan that the battle against the insurgents was not only a military one but required Afghanistan's donors to step up development to win popular support.

While the coalition has been focused on a counter-insurgency role, the Nato deployment into the south hopes to put a sharper focus on reconstruction. Its troops have however come under regular attack, with the battle-hardened insurgents more capable than ever.

The foreign troops in Afghanistan train and work alongside their colleagues in the country's fledgling security forces. The internationally supported Afghan army and police are however still understaffed and ill-equipped.

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan Remarks on the Transfer of Authority

            Today is a great day for the people of Afghanistan, the NATO International Security Assistance Force, and the U.S.-led Coalition.  It is an even greater day for future generations of Afghans, for this ceremony that you just witnessed underscores the international community’s commitment to helping the people of this great country achieve the peace and prosperity that they rightly deserve.
            The march up to this historic day has been marked by intensive preparation and coordination between the Coalition and our ISAF partners.  This has been a seamless transition and I would like to thank General David Richards and his staff for making the transfer of authority the great success that it is.
            The people of southern Afghanistan can take comfort in knowing that – under NATO ISAF – there will be thousands more troops working to build peace and prosperity here, and that they will bring even greater capability.  These two points are significant as the international community and our Afghan allies continue their unrelenting fight against a ruthless and immoral enemy.  As we have seen over the past few weeks, the enemy has been decisively defeated in numerous engagements, but he remains a dangerous foe.   He knows he can’t defeat us militarily, so he is resorting more and more to terrorizing innocent Afghans in a deliberate attempt to instill fear in the people.
            The enemy will fail here in southern Afghanistan, just as he will fail elsewhere in this country.  The War on Terrorism began here in Afghanistan, and it continues today.  We must never forget that.  The international community must remain fully engaged, and I can assure you that the United States – and I am now speaking as an American – will fulfill its pledge to the Afghan people.  The United States will not leave Afghanistan until the Afghan people tell us the job is done.
            In today’s ceremony, the United States and our Coalition allies formally pass the mantle of leadership in the south to NATO ISAF, but we must remember that the United States remains an essential member of NATO. This is a key point, for it demonstrates our long-term commitment here and our mission remain unchanged.  The United States will maintain its counter-terrorism capabilities, relentlessly pursuing those who stand in the way of security and prosperity in Afghanistan.  We will continue to play a key role in reconstruction, and in building the capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces.  This latter point is especially important, as I think the Afghan people can rightly be proud of their National Army and their National Police as they continue to take the fight to the enemy.
            In closing, today marks the end of Coalition leadership in the south, but it also begins a new chapter in the partnership of the Afghan and international community as – together – they continue to build an Afghanistan that is a viable, self-sustaining member of the international community free from international terror.

France urges Pakistan to stop Taliban infiltration - Associated Press
07/30/2006

Kabul - Many Taliban fighters are crossing from Pakistan to stage attacks inside Afghanistan, France's defence minister said yesterday.

Michele Alliot-Marie said the Nato-led force assuming command in insurgency-hit southern Afghanistan from today would need better cooperation from Pakistan.

"We need real cooperation from Pakistan, but it seems very difficult for them. The border is a very difficult region and we ask Pakistan to make some more effort to control it," she told reporters in Kabul.

"We think a lot of Taliban fighters are coming from Pakistan to Afghanistan." Today, the 18,000-strong Nato formally takes command in the volatile south of the country from a US-led anti-terror coalition. About 8,000 mostly British, Canadian and Dutch troops have deployed there in recent months.

The former ruling Taliban have stepped up attacks this year, and hundreds of insurgents have been killed in fighting with the international forces.

Pakistan, a key US ally in its war on terrorism, says it does all it can to patrol the porous Afghan border and stop cross-border militants.

Alliot-Marie, on a two-day visit to Afghanistan, held talks with President Hamid Karzai and her Afghan counterpart, Abdul Rahim Wardak.

France has special forces deployed in Afghanistan to fight against Al Qaida and Taliban. It is also part of the International Security Assistance Force, and will lead its operations in the Kabul region from August 6.

Taliban extremists attack governor; kill 8 civilians in Nangarhar

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Taliban extremists attacked Nagarhar Governor Gul Agha Sherazi this morning, detonating a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in a crowd of innocent civilians.
            Initial reports indicate 16 people were wounded and eight people were killed in the explosion.
            Governor Sherazi was not injured in the attack.   Three of the eight people killed were bodyguards for the governor.
            The attack occurred near the conclusion of a funeral for a former Mujahedin commander.   The attacker drove his vehicle into the crowd around the governor’s vehicle near a mosque and detonated his bomb.
            “Extremists use their extremist ideology as an excuse to kill and maim,” said Col. Thomas Collins, Coalition spokesman.   “This horrendous attack on innocent people is deplorable.  The fact that they detonated a bomb adjacent to a mosque during a funeral shows their hypocrisy, and demonstrates their lack of respect for Islam and the Afghan people.”

50-day operation kills 613 militants in Afghanistan

KABUL, July 30 (Xinhua) -- More than 600 Taliban-linked militants have been killed and 300 others made captive since a huge anti-Taliban operation was launched in post-Taliban Afghanistan 50 days ago, the Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said Sunday.

"It has a merit to mention that 613 enemies of Afghans have been killed, 87 others injured and 300 more arrested since the launching of Operation Mountain Thrust 50 days ago," Azimi told a press conference here.

Involving some 11,000 Afghan and the U.S-led coalition forces and covering the volatile southern provinces, the operation will be eventually closed down with the change of command from the U.S. military to NATO on July 31.

The British commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) David Richard will formally assume the command of the fighting forces in south Afghanistan on Monday to continue hunting down insurgents, the spokesman said.

But he declined to disclose the casualties of Afghan and the coalition forces during the course.

Azimi also added that mounting pressure on the anti-government rebels would continue till their elimination.

More than 1,100 people, mostly militants and some 60 foreign soldiers with half of them Americans, have been killed in Taliban-linked insurgency since beginning 2006 in the country.

Taliban 'no threat' to leadership - From: Agence France-Presse - From correspondents in Kabul July 29, 2006

THE chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff have overnight insisted Afghanistan's Taliban rebels were not a "strategic" problem despite a recent surge of violence in the country's south and east.

General Peter Pace said the Taliban were capable of causing destruction inside Afghanistan but would not re-emerge as a threat to the country's United States-backed leadership.

"The Taliban are a tactical problem, meaning that they can on occasion do damage to people and facilities here inside of Afghanistan," Pace said during a visit here.

"But the Afghan people have already voted for freedom and as long as the Afghan people want freedom and we stand as an international community side-by-side with the Afghan government, there is no way the Taliban can become a strategic problem."

General Pace, who met Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad early on Friday and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai later in the day, said current troop levels were sufficient to contain the Islamist rebels.

"Yes we have the right numbers of troops because it is not the United States here by itself," he said. "The Afghan army is getting stronger every day, the Afghan police force is behind the Afghan army in training but will be coming along."

"It is important to have the sufficient number of troops to help Afghanistan but that we respect Afghanistan's sovereignty and the proper right of the Afghan army and the Afghan police over time to be responsible for internal security," he added.

General Pace said his visit was partly aimed at smoothing relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which have been at odds over the ongoing insurgency.

"One of my reasons for coming was to see how I might be able to assist in the dialog to find a way that is good for both Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.

Afghanistan has repeatedly accused Pakistan of failing to crack down on militants operating from its soil, a charge rejected by Islamabad.

President Karzai Instructed That Emergency Aid Be Provided to the Families Affected by the Earthquake in Kunduz Province - Date of Release: 31 July 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, instructed the relevant local authorities to provide emergency aid to the families affected by the earthquake in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province.

According to reports, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake happened around 03:30 AM in Kotarma village of Imam Sahib district on Saturday, killing 2 people and injuring 14 others. 50 houses were completely destroyed and 368 houses were partially destroyed in the earthquake.

The President expressed his deep sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims of this natural disaster 

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Turkey to send more troops to Afghanistan - Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia

Ankara, 28 July: The Kabul Regional Command Centre will begin its operations on 6 August 2006 within the framework of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and under tripartite command of Turkey-France-Italy.

The Turkish presence in Afghanistan will be elevated to the level of a battalion. Also the number of Turkish troops serving in Afghanistan will be increased to 900, with a new addition of 640 soldiers.

Kabul Regional Command Centre will accomplish duties required under the command of ISAF. It will also help the Afghan government in areas such as "security" and "reconstruction".

Italian forces to remain in Afghanistan — for now

By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes - European edition, Saturday, July 29, 2006

The Italian military’s mission in Afghanistan appears to be alive for at least another six months.

Italy’s Senate voted Thursday evening to approve more than 130 million euros ($171 million) to fund the troops and their mission, though not without some controversy — including charges that the vote wasn’t valid.

Despite some opposition from the far left, Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s center-left coalition approved the measure 159-0 by instituting a vote of confidence in the government. The opposition, led by former Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi, has two fewer seats in the body and decided to abstain from voting on the issue. The final tally, according to members of the center-right opposition, fell one vote shy of a legal vote. The ruling coalition dismissed that charge and called the vote valid.

Asked for reaction, a public affairs officer from the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. missions in the Middle East, said the approval of funds was welcome.

“The contributions of all our coalition partners cannot be overstated,” said Capt. Matthew Hasson. “We are deeply appreciative for their contributions and sacrifices in fighting terror and promoting democracy throughout the Middle East.”

Senators were set to vote on the entire package of funding for Italian overseas missions Friday, and there were signs that members of both the right and left of the political spectrum weren’t happy.

A group of 16 senators in Prodi’s coalition repeated their opposition to the country’s continued mission in Afghanistan.

“We will vote today on the confidence vote for the government,” Gigi Malabarba was quoted as saying in an online report from Agenzia Giornalistica Italia. “But we would like to reiterate our ‘no’ to the Italian military mission in Afghanistan, which we have always been against.”

With only a relatively small group of senators voting against the measure, it was likely to pass anyway, because Berlusconi and his allies had signaled their support of the measure. Berlusconi was prime minister when the Italian troops were sent to the country.

But, according to various media reports, the left-center coalition wanted to show it could pass the measure without any support from their opponents. So it resorted to a vote of confidence. If the vote had failed, the government would have effectively been toppled and new elections could be called.

The opposition, which had said that the measure wouldn’t pass without its support, decided to abstain. Some members of the Northern League, at the far right of the political spectrum, held up a sign calling Prodi a dictator. According to another report on the AGI Web site, one Northern League senator, Massimo Polledri, was tackled by security guards anxious to avoid a fight when he approached some ruling coalition senators during debate.

The group of 16 senators on the left said another vote in a few months to extend the mission further would be “unacceptable.”

The country’s Chamber of Deputies had overwhelmingly voted to support the mission last week, with the right joining the left in a 549-4 verdict.

At stake is funding for about 1,800 Italian troops. Most are deployed to the relatively peaceful west of Afghanistan, with another large contingent in the country’s capital of Kabul.

Journalists thrashed in Kabul – Pajhwok News Agency 7/30/2006 By Lailuma Sadid and Zainab Muhammadi

KABUL - Three staffers working with a private television channel were beaten by armed men while covering a demonstration against former Mujahideen leader and current Member of Parliament Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf in Paghman district of Kabul on Saturday.

Noorullah Rahmani, a reporter with the Tolo TV, said his cameraman Qais Ahmad and their driver were thrashed and their cameras were confiscated by seven gunmen 'loyal to Sayyaf'. Some 400 demonstrators staged the demonstration to protest against illegal grabbing of lands by Sayyaf. Residents of Paghman, west of Kabul and Sayyaf's native district, have held several demonstrations in the past against illegal land grabbing.

Rahmani said they were on the way to the police headquarters of Paghman to get officials comments after covering the protest and taking photos of burnt photos when the gunmen intercepted them.

Confirming the thrashing of the Tolo workers, Police chief of Paghman Abdul Razzaq said the staffers were beaten by some unidentified gunmen. Sayyaf was not available for comment on the incident.

Head of the Afghan Independent Journalists Association Rahimullah Samandar also confirmed and condemned the beating of journalists. He said it was against all international laws and norms and that warlords were still disturbing journalists' works.

Afghan pact working well but support still needed

United Nations press release 07/30/2006

A multi-billion dollar blueprint for partnership between the Government of Afghanistan and the international community to bolster security, economic development and counter-narcotics efforts has achieved solid progress since its adoption in January, but continued global support is needed to consolidate gains, an expert panel including the United Nations said today.

The Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, the high-level Afghan-international body charged with overseeing the "Afghanistan Compact," made that conclusion following its second full session, held in the country. The Board examines and then reports to the Afghan public, national assembly, president, donors, and the UN Secretary General on progress with the Compact's implementation.

"Afghanistan has a remarkable tool, in the form of the Afghanistan Compact, for bringing its vision of a progressive, just, and prosperous nation towards reality," said Tom Koenigs, UN Special Representative in Afghanistan and the Board's international co-chair. "But still we are nearer the start of the process than the end. There is much work to be done. There must be no letting up."

After hearing reports on progress towards achieving benchmarks, the JCMB issued a press statement welcoming the fact that "the full architecture necessary for the Compact's implementation is now in place."

Regarding security, the Board noted that "over the past couple of months substantial new resources and energies were being deployed to better address security needs in various areas of the country, a process that will continue in the coming days with NATO/ISAF's expansion into southern provinces." ISAF is the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Other progress included the drafting of a proposed mechanism for providing transparency and improved public confidence in the appointments system.

While overall initial progress with the Compact was assessed positively, the Board highlighted delays in the energy sector as an area needing urgent and close attention. "Rapid economic and population growth in Kabul and other urban areas, coupled with delays including in the construction of transmission lines from neighbouring States, means that demand for electricity is outstripping supply," the statement said.

Adopted in January, the Afghan Compact sets out a five-year agenda for sustained engagement with Afghanistan to help consolidate democratic institutions, curb insecurity, control the illegal drug trade, stimulate the economy, enforce the law, provide basic services to the Afghan people and protect their human rights.

France rejects UN's call to reconsider deportation of Franco-Tunisian

Excerpt from report by French news agency AFP

Paris, 28 July 2006: The UN's Committee against Torture on Friday [28 July] called on France to defer the deportation of Adel Tebourski, a 42-year-old Tunisian who has just completed a prison sentence for terrorism-related offences, but the Interior Ministry has reiterated its conviction that he constitutes a "serious threat" to state security.

"The Committee against Torture, to which the matter was referred by ACAT-France [Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture] and the Cimade [ecumenical organization which supports displaced people], is urging the French government to apply a basic principle of precaution in Mr Tebourski's case, in accordance with its international commitments", in view of the risk of torture in Tunisia, said Cimade and ACAT-France in a statement.

Adel Tebourski, who received a prison sentence for helping the assassins of Afghan commander Masud, had his request for political refugee status turned down by OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) on Friday morning.

He was taken immediately to the Tunisian consulate for his nationality to be verified with a view to his deportation. The consulate, according to his defence lawyer, Maitre Franck Boezec, did not however immediately issue the papers required for his deportation.

On his return to the Mesnil-Amelot administrative detention centre (in the Seine-et-Marne department), Adel Tebourski began a hunger strike and is also refusing liquids, according to his lawyer. The latter tabled a new appeal against his client's deportation at Paris administrative court this morning, this time contesting the choice of Tunisia as his destination. It will be examined on Saturday [29 July].

In its statement the Interior Ministry justifies the deportation decision, emphasizing that Adel Tebourski "was sentenced in connection with a terrorist case (and) poses a serious threat to state and national security".

Mr Tebourski was sentenced to six years' imprisonment in May 2005, after nearly four years on remand, for having assisted the assassins of Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Masud, in September 2001. A Franco-Tunisian, he was stripped of his French nationality the same day he left prison, on 21 July, (after having his sentence reduced) and on 22 July was notified of a decree ordering his deportation to Tunisia, under a fast-track emergency procedure, before being placed in administrative detention.

On Wednesday Paris administrative court judge responsible for dealing with fast-track proceedings rejected an initial appeal by his lawyers contesting the use of this fast-track emergency procedure. On the same day his defence lawyers also filed another appeal with Paris administrative court, this time calling for the suspension of the procedure, arguing that it was "illegal". The hearing is due to take place on 4 August.

Generals urge Musharraf rethink - BBC 07/28/2006 By Barbara Plett

Pakistan's beleaguered president General Pervez Musharraf has suffered another blow, this time on the domestic front.

He was already being criticised for his foreign policy - by the Americans for not doing enough to stop Taleban infiltration into Afghanistan across Pakistan's border, and by India for harbouring Islamist militants allegedly involved in the recent Mumbai bombings.

Now a group of retired generals, sitting and former politicians and academics has urged him to end the military's role in politics by separating the two offices of state he holds.

"The office of president of Pakistan is also a political office, and combining the presidency with the office of army chief of staff politicises the latter post as well as the army," said a letter leaked to several local newspapers this week.

It was addressed to the president, the prime minister and heads of political parties. It called for a neutral caretaker government to ensure free and fair parliamentary elections due next year.

And it urged "conciliation rather than confrontation", reflecting widespread concern that President Musharraf's continuing exclusion of Pakistan's main opposition parties may lead to violence.

"Despite the existence of elected legislatures and the prospects of the next elections, there is a deficit of trust and credibility that marks virtually all political relationships," said the letter. "Increasing polarisation reflects the dangerous forces of exclusion and dominance."

There's nothing new in the demands - they've been made repeatedly by commentators and opposition politicians. What's significant is who made them.

The group includes prominent figures in the Pakistani establishment, including retired intelligence chiefs and generals, some of whom are close to the president.

"One wonders why their conscience did not prick when they were in uniform," noted a laconic editorial in the Dawn newspaper. Another wit acidly observed that there are few so revolutionary as generals out of work.

'Tired of Musharraf' - But signatories dismissed the cynicism. They said the letter was the result of months of discussions held by a working group on civil-military relations. When participants decided to draft the letter, it took six months to agree the text.

"The letter is significant in the sense that people from diverse backgrounds have come to a consensus," says Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, a political analyst and one of the signatories. "It shows that a good number of generals have become tired of the Musharraf system."

A retired lieutenant general, Talat Masood, agrees. "We were motivated by a fear that the status quo is untenable and may be dangerous," he told the BBC.

"We think that the more you involve the army, the more polarisation will increase - between the military regime and civil society, and between the provinces and the central government.

"We had a strong view that this is not the way forward for the future of Pakistan." Having released the letter, what comes next? "We're hoping that the debate can continue," said Mr Masood. "And rather than confrontation, the government can find some flexibility to accommodate the opposition.

But confrontation is what seems to be looming. Ahead of next year's elections the two main opposition parties have agreed on a so-called charter of democracy committed to getting the military out of politics.

And Pakistan's powerful Islamist parties are talking about a rolling campaign of street protests to oust the president. There is also rising popular discontent over soaring prices of essential commodities and endless power cuts in what has been a particularly hot summer. That is what makes the letter important.

It's another sign that the order set in place seven years ago by Gen Musharraf's coup may be coming to a close, or at the very least, that more and more people want it to.

Afghan democracy - M. Ashraf Haidari Published July 21, 2006  

Afghanistan embodied the consequences of international negligence in the post-Cold War era. But international inertia ceased on September 11. After September 11, the world suddenly discovered Afghanistan, which became the main focus of the global fight against terrorism. That leaving Afghanistan to the Taliban had been a huge mistake by the international community was now accepted wisdom, as it became clear that if the international community had stayed on to help rebuild Afghanistan at the end of the occupation by the Soviet Union in 1989 the country would not have become al Qaeda's base for global terror attacks.

Five years on, peace still remains elusive in Afghanistan. The same destructive transnational forces that ripped Afghanistan apart in the 1990s continue to undermine its new democracy and threaten international security. A number of interdependent factors account for the resurgence of security threats to Afghanistan and the international community.

first, while it took the Taliban seven years to establish its rule over much of Afghanistan, Coalition forces ousted it in 45 days. Most Taliban members gave up on resistance and headed to their villages, or crossed the border into Pakistan in late 2001. Since then, Coalition forces have mainly focused on hunting down the leadership and remnants of al Qaeda, leaving thousands of former Taliban combatants to their own fates. This effectively has allowed the Taliban to regroup, find new sources of funding and receive insurgency training outside Afghanistan. They have now reorganized into a well-coordinated insurgency, rapidly capitalizing on Afghanistan's vulnerable human environment to carry out a protracted war of harassment and terrorism.

Second, despite being the world's main front in the war against terrorism, Afghanistan has received less per capita in reconstruction and security assistance than other recent post-conflict countries, including Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia. Lack of resources has led to quick fixes to address basic needs at the cost of long-term development projects. A lack of internal security and economic development has left Afghanistan's war-torn society vulnerable to narcoterrorists, who draw in more than 2.3 million Afghan farmers in poppy cultivation. Peasants remain extremely poor, however, as most of the drug revenues go to drug lords and corrupt police officers.

third, between 2001 and 2005 the basic institutions of centralized government were established in Afghanistan. But law enforcement institutions, which constitute the face of any government, have been neglected from the beginning. Judicial and police reforms — reforms that should have been the foundation on which other state institutions were built — were not implemented and were shelved indefinitely, due to a lack of resources. Consequently, a security vacuum has widened in areas where state institutions are either absent or too weak to protect people, particularly in the south and east — areas that have seen little or no assistance over the past five years.

It is apparent that unless state institutions are strengthened to address security needs, Afghans' trust in democracy may erode over time. Popular opposition to the Taliban and narcoterrorists can and should also be strengthened. It is a matter of deepening the trust of Afghans in their new democracy.

Five years of international blood and treasure have gone into creating a legitimate government in Afghanistan, headed by President Hamid Karzai. Mr. Karzai is providing the leadership demanded by the complexities of building a new state in a tough neighborhood. In addition, Afghans continue supporting international peace-building, as they don't want to see their country slide back into the chaos of the 1990s. Moreover, Afghanistan has a strategy to win the peace: the Afghanistan Compact and the National Development Strategy. With these essential agreements in place, Afghanistan is far closer to success than to failure.

Afghanistan needs a minimum of $4 billion a year to implement the objectives of its integrated strategy for security, governance and development. The international community must deliver on the pledges they made during the London Conference earlier this year to make possible the implementation of that three-pronged strategy.

At the same time, they must ensure that aid is used effectively through close coordination with Afghan partners — based on sound policies that are centered on local ownership of the development process — so that Afghans themselves can take responsibility for the future of their country.

As we learned from September 11 and the suffering of the Afghan people throughout the1990s,a failed Afghanistan is not an option for the international community. Success is the only way forward.

M. Ashraf Haidari is political counselor at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington.

[Disclaimer: The content of this news bulletin does not necessarily reflect the view or policy of the Afghan Government, unless specifically stated as such. The collection of articles and commentaries from Afghan and international news sources is provided for informational purposes, and accuracy of the news is the responsibility of the original source.]