Opinion | Columnists
Tackling Afghanistan
The US attempt to take military control of Helmand must be backed by other initiatives.
- By Farhan Bokhari, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:04 July 4, 2009
The latest offensive by US marines in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province in the past week, one element in a 'big push' by President Barack Obama to take charge of the central Asian country, appears to be based on questionable assumptions.
The offensive, which is believed to involve at least 4,000 US marines, aims to target Helmand with the purpose of destroying a sizeable part of Afghanistan's poppy plantations, which are used to produce opiates and heroin.
If it proves militarily successful, this operation may well then be followed by similar operations elsewhere. But military success alone will not resolve the complex muddle in which Afghanistan finds itself.
The tragedy of Afghanistan under former US president George W. Bush was indeed the lip service paid to the cause of nation building. While Bush said he was keen to open a new chapter for Afghanistan, in reality he remained wedded to an old-style push for military victories.
Ultimately, while the US spent billions of dollars to fund the war, Afghanistan's ordinary people hardly ever benefited. Today, in many respects, that mistake is in danger of being repeated.
The campaign in Helmand will need to be backed very quickly with a push to uplift the population economically. For too long, farmers in places like Helmand have found the returns from growing poppies to be simply irresistible, and have therefore found the risks involved to be worth taking.
This provides a lesson about what is required to stabilise Afghanistan. However, it will be far from easy to rehabilitate the country's economy and provide the basis for long-term growth. Even setting aside financial resources for this cause can at best be one step on what promises to be a long road.
Next month's presidential elections in Afghanistan, which are likely to be won by incumbent Hamid Karzai, provide an important building block towards creating a sustained basis for long-term economic recovery.
However, it will be important to follow the elections with a bold new effort to build credible political institutions that establish a strong link between ordinary constituents and their representatives. Afghanistan still has a long way to go before it becomes a stable democracy. The progress it has already made towards this end is indeed impressive, given that it has been embroiled in war for the past 30 years.
However, for the Western world's community of nations, led by the United States, there are three elements that are essential to revive the Afghan economy and support nation building.
First, there must be a strong push to deliver economic resources across Afghanistan, even if a part of that assistance is wasted. It is vital to provide as much money as possible to at least begin injecting cash in economically deprived areas. Ultimately, any progress, no matter how limited, towards establishing some foothold in large parts of rural Afghanistan will only help to promote a credible pro-reform agenda. By itself, the military push provides what at best could be characterised as a partial solution.
Second, there must be a bold effort towards providing vitality and prospects for growth to Afghanistan's civil society, which is in its infancy. Ultimately, the business of promoting the economy must in part be about involving key players in this process.
Experience across many developing countries has adequately demonstrated the centrality of civil society as a key player in this process. While government-backed institutions may be important to lead the process, community-based initiatives involving ordinary people volunteering to usher in an era of change are equally vital. Ultimately, ordinary Afghans must play a major role in economic rehabilitation.
Last but not least, economic revival cannot be promoted in isolation from Afghanistan's development and democratic process. The US-backed initiative to build a large Afghan national army to improve security is essentially a double-edged sword. A stronger and better organised Afghan army would indeed be a step forward. But surrounded by a weak political framework, such an army's generals could well emerge as leaders of a future coup. If so, this will not be inconsistent with the experience of other post-colonial developing countries. For the stability of Afghanistan, it is absolutely imperative that the development of the military as a potent force must progress side by side with economic and political development.
Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.
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