Increasing Independence is the Focus of New Strategy in Afghanistan

By Katherine Hubbard

The consensus at last week’s London Conference echoed the Obama administration’s new strategy for Afghanistan: the international community must begin to shift an increasing amount of responsibility to the Afghan government in preparation for a withdrawal of international troops.  Sixty-five nations were represented at the conference and although they pledged to maintain their long-term commitment to Afghanistan, the conference affirmed the international community’s desire to see Afghanistan’s government play a larger role in the security, economic development and governance of the country.

Conference participants committed to making intensive efforts to ensure that the Afghan government is increasingly prepared to meet the needs of its people.  These efforts include the contribution of the NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan towards the growth and expansion of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and the contribution of EUPOL to monitoring, mentoring and advising the Ministry of the Interior and supporting police reform.

The Afghan government, while emphasizing that their country would need international support for many years to come, also expressed desire for greater independence.  The Afghan government stated their goal of having the ANSF take the lead and conduct the majority of operations in the insecure areas of Afghanistan within three years and taking physical responsibility for security within five years.  The Afghan government also expressed determination to assume greater responsibility for detentions, in accordance with international standards and national and international law.  In order to achieve these goals, the international community pledged to continue help improving the capacity and effectiveness of ANSF as well as the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.

The London Conference will be followed by a conference in Kabul later this year, hosted by the Afghan government, where they plan to present concrete plans for delivery of democratic accountability, improved governance, equality, human rights and economic growth to the Afghan people.

The North Atlantic Council announced that by the time of the conference in Kabul they intend to have a strategy for the province-by-province transition to Afghan security.  Conference participants agreed on a shared commitment to create the conditions to allow for transition as rapidly as possible.  The goal is for a number of provinces to transfer to ANSF control, providing conditions are met, by late 2010 or early 2011, with international security forces moving into a supporting role in these provinces.

The Afghan government also announced their commitment to developing an overall plan for more effective and accountable national civilian institutions, including the civil service.  Conference participants welcomed this commitment and urged the international community to provide additional support to train 12,000 sub-national civil servants by the end of 2011.

The issues discussed at the conference align closely with the Obama administration’s strategy for Afghanistan.  On January 21 the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department released their report Afghanistan and Pakistan Regional Stabilization Strategy.  The report focuses on the means of achieving the Obama administration’s stated core goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its safe havens in Pakistan, and to prevent their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan.  Two major themes emerge from this strategy: emphasis on a whole-of-government approach and the transfer of leadership to the Afghan government.

The report contains thirteen key initiatives that will be the focus of the administration’s strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan:
•    Overhauling Afghan Assistance – The short-term goal of overhauling aid is job creation and the long-term goal is sustainable economic growth.
•    Deploying Additional Civilian Expertise – The administration expects that early this year the civilian presence will triple from what it was in January of 2009.  Throughout 2010 they further anticipate increasing the number of civilian staff by 20 to 30 percent.
•    Rebuilding Afghanistan’s Agriculture Sector – The report asserts that agriculture is the quickest way to create jobs, and licit jobs will keep people from joining the insurgency.  
•    Strengthening Afghan Governance – Steps to improve governance and secure the confidence of the Afghan people include reducing corruption, enhancing sub-national governance and enhancing the Afghan government’s capacity.
•    Enhancing Afghan Rule of Law – The administration will look to strengthen traditional justice by re-establishing traditional dispute resolution mechanisms through shuras and jirgas.  They also look to enhance the formal justice sector by training judges, increasing court capacity and enhancing access to formal justice.
•    Supporting Afghan-led Reintegration – The administration supports Afghan-led efforts to reintegrate Taliban who renounce al Qaeda, cease violence, and agree to participate in the constitutional process.
•    Combating the Afghan Narcotics Trade – The new approach focuses on interdiction of drug traffickers and financial flows rather than eradication of crops.  It also enhances assistance to farmers who choose to grow legal crops.
•    Building an Economic Foundation for Afghanistan’s Future – In the long run, the economic goals for the country are to diversify the private sector, improve infrastructure and improve fiscal sustainability.
•    An Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan – The administration seeks to form a partnership with Pakistan that goes beyond immediate security issues and focuses on building a long-term relationship.
•    Enhancing Pakistan’s Counterinsurgency Capabilities - This initiative aims to assist Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate safe-havens for terrorists through security assistance programs.
•    Disrupting Illicit Financial Flows to Extremists - Extremist groups such as al Qaeda receive significant funding from the narcotics trade and outside sources.   To combat this, the administration is pursuing a three-pronged counter-threat finance strategy.
•    Countering Extremist Voices – To combat Taliban and al Qaeda propaganda, the administration will be creating programs to empower Afghans and Pakistanis to challenge the extremist narrative and offer their own vision for their countries.
•    Mobilizing International Support – Here the administration expresses its desire to build the broadest possible global coalition in support of their efforts.

Flickr photo by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office used under a Creative Commons license.