In an article in the Magazin für Europa und Internationales, Michael Steiner looks at the objectives of the Afghanistan mission. The top priorities are to achieve adequate stability and to ensure that fundamental human rights are respected, he says. “Girls must be allowed to go to school,” stresses the German government’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Photo: DED/ Britta Radike
Afghanistan is changing – training mechanics with German assistance
All of us, including our international partners, have made mistakes in Afghanistan. To date we have seen a failure to admit this. There has been a notable lack of willingness to admit our own shortcomings in the face of the reality in this country, which has been traumatised by thirty years of violence.
For a long time we were overly optimistic as to the extent we could change Afghanistan to fit our western ideas, and how swiftly change was possible.
2010 was the year of the reality checks in Afghanistan for the entire international community. We, and our international partners, have learned three lessons. Firstly we have modified our objectives to what is realistically feasible – achieving adequate stability in Afghanistan and ensuring that fundamental human rights are respected. That must be non-negotiable – girls must be allowed to go to school.
Photo: Bundeswehr / Martin Stollberg Under the Taliban girls were not allowed to attend schoolSecondly,
we have understood that the two indispensable pillars on which our commitment is based – military and civilian reconstruction – must be joined by a third, if the Afghanistan we build is to be stable. The political process is equally essential. There can be no purely military solution in Afghanistan. Only a political process which embraces all groups within the country will lead to a stabilisation of the situation. This process of negotiation might well be complicated, but there is no way round it. It must be managed by the Afghan side, even if the international community provides strong support, and the region, in particular Pakistan and Iran must endorse it. And it must, of course, be conducted with the opponents of the regime. Who else? Reconciliation is possible with all groups that accept three fundamental principles: renunciation of violence, acceptance of the constitutional framework and ending all links to international terrorism.
Photo: PIZ EinsFüKdo Talking to locals near KunduzThirdly,
we now have an internationally agreed timeframe for the hand-over of responsibility for security: 2011 to the end of 2014. Although it is easy to understand the calls of some critics for a speedy end to the mission of the Federal Armed Forces, we must take into account the fact that any precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan would end in civil war and chaos. And this would not be limited to Afghanistan. Nobody can believe in good faith that we in Europe would be spared, if the centre of this explosive region collapsed into chaos and radical Islamists won a victory not only over NATO but also over the 49 nations involved in Afghanistan with a clear United Nations mandate. We must not repeat the disastrous mistake that the international community made in 1989, when they simply dropped Afghanistan. The experience of the fatal consequences has marked the entire region, and we are still paying for our mistake today. That is why the international community accepted responsibility this time round.
Photo: Bundeswehr / Martin Stollberg A hydro-power plant in Jurm,
AfghanistanIn spite of all sober realism, and in spite of everything that remains to be done, our success is already tangible. For instance, 80 percent of Afghans now have access to primary health care. The residents of Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif now have electricity, and seven million boys and even more importantly girls can now go to school. This would all be called into question if we were to withdraw precipitously. Respect for the victims and for those who are serving or have served in Afghanistan whether in uniform or as civilians precludes any such course of action.
From 2011 to 2014 international troops will gradually hand over responsibility for security in the country to Afghans. By the end of 2014, the transfer is to be completed. But even if no more international combat troops are then seen on the streets of Afghanistan, we will not abandon the country to its fate. Otherwise our strategy will not work.
We will remain committed in terms of economic development, capacity building, and training, including training for the Afghan security forces. The concrete form that this long-term commitment will take will be one of the important issues dealt with at the international conference to be held in December in Bonn, ten years after the Petersberg Conference, in response to a request of President Karzai.
Over the next two years Germany will also be using its non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council to push ahead with Afghanistan.
We are sure of the support of many partners in our efforts. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference, for instance, has pledged to host the next meeting of the International Contact Group for Afghanistan on 1 March at its Headquarters in Jeddah.
The contact group is chaired by Germany and brings together almost 50 special representatives on Afghanistan from around the globe – 15 of them from Islamic countries. In Jeddah we will be attempting above all to make progress on the political reconciliation process.
In 2011 we will have to continue to deal in detail with Afghanistan. The issues are extremely difficult for all of us, in terms of domestic and foreign policy, and at a human level. There is no point in trying to make the truth more palatable. The situation is not easy. And in future we will continue to experience failures and setbacks.
Nobody can guarantee success. But in spite of everything we have made progress. The Afghans themselves say so. And we must now together complete what we started together.
Michael Steiner, Ambassador and Special Representative of the German Government on the situation in Afghanistan.
The Press and Information Office of the Federal Government
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Filed under: Afghanistan, Asia, Badakhshan, Civil Society, Community development projects, Education, Germany, Human Rights, Poverty, Taliban, Tolerance, Women's rights Tagged: | Afghanistan, Civil Society, Democracy, Education, Germany, poverty alleviation, Women's rights
