Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me thank my good friend, Honorable Bill Graham, and the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council for this invitation to speak today as you celebrate the 53 rd General Assembly of the Atlantic Treaty Association, and offer you an Afghan perspective.

Je vous félicite pour avoir invité a cette conférence des orateurs distingues qui vont pouvoir se concentrer sur le rôle important que l’OTAN joue avec ses partenaires globaux faisant partie d’une approche étendue pour reconstruire non seulement l’Afghanistan mais envers d’autres défis aussi.

TR: [I commend you for bringing together a very distinguished roster of speakers for this event to focus their talks on the important role NATO plays with its global partners as part of a comprehensive approach to rebuilding Afghanistan and other challenges.]

Six years have elapsed since the ouster of the Taliban from power and the start of the rebuilding effort in Afghanistan. During these past six years, the Afghans have regained control of their country and their destiny, are embracing and nurturing a young democracy, revitalizing parts of their socio-economic lives, revamping their institutions at the national and sub-national levels, reconnecting with the region and the world and looking forward to a better future for their children. Afghanistan is a country once more where women can reach their potential as citizens, girls and boys have access to education, more than four million refugees have returned home, child mortality is down, a dynamic and free media is burgeoning, and economic growth is almost double digit for the fifth year straight.

Comparatively speaking, some of the achievements were unthinkable six years ago. However, the challenges are also enormous. Solutions have to be sought in every sector affected by almost 25 years of conflict. One fact that does not escape the Afghans though is the role played by the international community as an enabler of change and progress. NATO is at the heart of this enabling environment, because it is clear that where there is security there is progress and people are rebuilding their lives. That is why every survey shows that the Afghans continue to support the continued presence of the donors and contributing nations in terms of security, aid and governance to help us reach levels of self-sustainability. I will focus parts of my talk today on how to attain those objectives applying six years of best practice and lessons learned in this strategic engagement.

There are many reasons, but two distinct ones for which the Afghan issue remains a predominant subject in international affairs:

1. The fact that the radicals, the spoilers of peace, stability, democracy and prosperity, were able to find sanctuaries and safe havens, regroup, recruit, re-arm and try to re-deploy in the tribal border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan and inside Afghanistan to stage a come back, with the purpose of re-imposing their oppressive, un-welcomed and misguided rule on the Afghans.
2. We are realizing, slowly and at times painfully, that state building and reconstruction of all aspects of a failed state that underwent almost three decades of destruction and upheaval will not occur within a few short years, and will not be repaired with insufficient investments in terms of manpower and resources.

On many occasions over the past few years, we have met, talked, strategized, pledged and taken actions, from Tokyo in 2002 to Berlin in 2004 and more recently in London where the Afghanistan Compact was signed, to help identify and prioritize the various facets of the vast rebuilding agenda. But over the past two years we have been distracted by a worrisome security environment. From an Afghan perspective, the numerous problems facing Afghanistan can be overcome with longer-term investments and with our own gradual implementation of a reformist agenda that suits the Afghans.

To most Afghans, if a set of solutions need to be found or nurtured to tackle a set of challenges such as weak governance, low management capacity, institutional fragility, rule of law and judicial shortcomings, gender inequalities and so on, there also needs to be a concerted effort made to understand and deal with the challenges and threats emanating from outside Afghanistan with the explicit goal of unraveling our accomplishments.

Pour le peuple de l’Afghanistan dont le gouvernement à invité la communauté internationale à aider à stabiliser et reconstruire une nation détruite, c’est une mission simple et sans équivoque. Nous savons qui sont les instigateurs de violence et de destruction et quelles sont leurs buts. A l’unisson, les Afghans rejettent un retour à la loi par procuration d’extrémistes et de terroristes.

Afghanistan is a legitimate multilateral work-in-progress that requires dynamic engagement. The various components of this mission undertaken by many countries, most represented here today, also require historic understanding, cultural sensitivity, thoughtful management, visionary leadership, political will, perseverance and well-coordinated efforts to overcome years of institutional decay, regional interferences, fragmentation, and socio-economic stagnation.

If we have a problem with corruption or the poppy economy, its roots can be found in the country’s recent history highlighted by war, displacement, drought and abject poverty. Prior to the communist takeover, Afghanistan was not a significant poppy cultivator, and contrary to conventional wisdom, the country was relatively peaceful and stable, never a threat to any of its neighbors.

Key economic challenges for my Government, as well as for the donors, include the need for additional resources for development, funding for the recurrent budget, improvements on aid effectiveness, anti-corruption and anti-narcotics measures, and dealing with job-creation initiatives while we transition to a market-based economy.

Besides the militant resurgence, the drug business is an obstacle in about a third of the border provinces. The two are intrinsically linked as we see the direct relationship between the insurgency, criminal elements and the drug business. We are also witnessing the north-south divide that seems to be emerging in terms of reduction of poppy cultivation on one hand and an increase on the other. We are convinced that farmers need help and incentives to move towards other means of livelihood or alternative crops, and disincentives when they don’t.

My government remains convinced that the answer does not lie in drastic measures, such as aerial spraying and forced chemical eradication, which would exacerbate the situation even further. Paying very close attention to the agriculture sector, to water management issues, to agri-business, to the farmers’ credit access and debt alleviation measures, and even simple solutions such as reforestation, will help us steer the country in a healthier direction over many years.

However, these efforts need to run parallel to our attempts at dealing with governance challenges, and issues such as reforms of the law enforcement and justice sectors.

As expressed by President Karzai in acknowledging that the right conditions, political and military, need to be in place for any meaningful political dialogue to take place, by no means will we or can we negotiate with anyone who has ties to terrorist organizations, or wants to undermine the aspirations of the Afghan people and the country’s young democratic foundations, or anyone who is not capable of giving up on violence as a political tool. We will talk to those Afghans who come earnestly without pre-conditions to see what value they add to the system and consult widely about the options available.

By no means can we allow foreign terrorist and suicide brigades to re-establish themselves on Afghan soil, as has been recently reported. We are doing our utmost to engage our neighbors in forging mutually beneficial conditions for security and prosperity. It is obvious to the Afghans that nurturing Talibanization or radical militancy is counterproductive, and we are seeing the dire consequences at the regional level today. We hope to work together toward creating the conditions for moderation and democracy to replace extremism, violence and intolerance in the infested areas.

As Pres. Karzai has reiterated on many occasions, the safety of innocent Afghans and civilians caught in the crossfire or used as human shields by the enemy should always be of paramount consideration. We cannot afford to lose the goodwill and support of the population.

Afghanistan seems to be a misunderstood issue in many donor countries. Even Afghans do not have all the facts available to them. We can do better with our public messaging. Both recipients and donors of aid need to have a more accurate understanding of what is being done, as people in some key donor nations, like Canada, are not seeing the whole picture. They are bombarded through the media with either the purely militaristic aspects of the mission or the overly politicized debate that is immersed in simplifications and partisanship. The decision concerning the UN-mandated Afghan mission obviously rests with each contributing nation and their representatives, or with member states of NATO, however, as an Afghan, I am convinced that we can provide a more balanced and comprehensive view of realities on the ground.

Afghans follow international developments that affect their lives very closely, especially those that fall within multilateral frameworks. They are keenly aware of the debates and decisions being taken within those frameworks, including NATO. We appreciate the complexities that some member states face today, and we also appreciate the new and added contributions made by some of the older members, new members and aspiring countries as well, as demonstrated in recent NATO meetings. Over time, as we concentrate on training and equipping an effective Afghan military force, the burden will shift and decrease on your end. But now is the most difficult period while we build, train and fight at the same time.

To complement these measures and the sacrifices made by your nations, inside the country, we are now adopting the concept of “Afghanization”. This simply means that to allow for the gradual shift to take place, we are increasingly using measures to empower and include the communities at the sub-district and district levels to have a stake in security and development challenges that are being shouldered by others. The donor will help the national government fund the Afghanization process. The community’s direct engagement in decision-making will give them a reason to become the first line of defence and implementation as catalysts for change. For example, if we Afghanize the new education system, the communities will not only make decisions about the local schooling issues, partner with the government and the donor, but will also defend it against the school haters.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Every survey and poll coming out of Afghanistan shows signs of concern, but also a very strong belief that we are on the right track. This mission is winnable and the Afghans believe that the sacrifices are not in vain, that together we can not only overcome the challenges, but also help a nation attain its aspirations for the sake of global peace and security. Afghans are also very grateful for the continued partnership and friendship offered by so many countries that believe in our shared values and in the strategic imperatives. They are also keenly aware of the alternatives and the dire consequences if we waver or do not see this mission through to a desired completion. We remain hopeful and we are certain that together we can accomplish much more, and much quicker.

Merci pour m’offrir cette occasion, merci pour votre support et mes meilleurs vœux pour cette anniversaire.