Progress amid violence
M. Ashraf Haidari
September 11, 2010
This summer, the Afghan government hosted the first International Conference
on Afghanistan in Kabul. Our allies from around the world recommitted to a firm
partnership with the Afghan government as we begin taking over and gradually
leading the stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. We welcomed
Pakistan as an important regional partner in the fight against terrorism and
extremism, which destabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan alike. And we continue to
believe that the war can be won only through a concerted international
partnership, with an emphasis on integration and strategic coordination of
military and civilian assistance to Afghanistan.
The flare-up in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan coincides with its expected
summer offensive, which continues to be planned in and launched from Pakistan.
More important, it is a desperate response by the ever-unpopular militant
organization to the increased military pressure from the Afghan and NATO forces.
Afghanistan is on the right course, and we need Pakistan's sincere help in this
international endeavor for regional stability and global peace.
The increased military pressure on the Taliban, of course, is complemented by
an American civilian effort. At the recent Kabul conference, the United States
and other contributing nations firmly committed to channeling 50 percent of
their aid resources through Afghanistan's national budget in order to help the
Afghan government build capacity, fight corruption and provide better services
to the broadest segments of the population.
Despite what is reported in the news, Afghanistan is making significant
progress. The Afghan security institutions are stronger and more capable than
they have been in the past 10 years, taking ever-greater security responsibility
from our allies. Our economy has been growing at a remarkable rate. World Bank
figures show that Afghanistan's real gross domestic product rose by a stunning
22.5 percent during the 2009-10 fiscal year - a record since 2003 - and
inflation remained very low at 2 percent.
The World Bank also reported in April that our fiscal sustainability
increased by a whopping 70 percent over the previous year because of strong
growth in revenues and containment of operational expenditures. Afghanistan has
made significant progress in good governance, with parliament passing two
important pieces of legislation: The first requires all new ministers to declare
their assets to improve transparency. The other, passed before the recent
discovery of huge deposits of minerals, governs the mining and hydrocarbon
industries.
These are not just figures. The Afghan people are experiencing a marked
improvement in their quality of life compared to a decade ago, when the Taliban
regime was in power. For example, about 85 percent of our population has access
to basic health care, up from just 8 percent in 2001. Of the 4.8 million
children in grades one through six, 36.6 percent are girls; female high school
enrollment doubled from 2007 to 2008. And the Afghan people like these
developments. A March 2010 poll revealed that 60 percent of Afghans think
Afghanistan is headed in the right direction.
When the former Soviet Union left Afghanistan, non-state actors soon began to
challenge the writ of the government. Forgotten by the international community
at the end of the Cold War, Afghanistan soon plunged into a decade of violent
conflict that gave rise to the Taliban and, eventually, the tragic events of
Sept. 11, 2001. At this critical juncture, when Afghanistan is making headway
into economic and security self-sufficiency, we need international assistance
more than ever to become a strong state.
That is why Presidents Hamid Karzai and Obama reaffirmed in May that the
United States and Afghanistan should work to strengthen a broad and enduring
strategic partnership, one that goes beyond the withdrawal of NATO troops. This
partnership would be reinforced by our foreign policy of nonaggression and
friendly relations with all, especially our neighbors, who, we hope, will
exhibit responsible cooperation.
We are grateful to our allies and deeply appreciate the sacrifice of their
soldiers and value the positive impact of their economic assistance. We realize
that domestic imperatives and resource constraints will mean this level of
assistance cannot be sustained in the long run; that is why we are taking
increased leadership and ownership of Afghanistan's path to the future. For now,
however, our nation-partners have to stay the course to achieve our mutual goal
of defeating terrorism and extremism.
M. Ashraf Haidari is deputy chief of mission and political counselor of the
Embassy of Afghanistan.
The above article originally appeared in the
Washington Times. Reprinted here with permission from the author.
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