Foresight and political will are needed

Afghanistan's future depends on how much foresight, political will and determination will be forthcoming from the Afghan leadership and the many nations involved, says Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's former foreign minister and a leading contender in the country's 2009 presidential election.

Naturally, Abdullah reminds that Karzai is not necessarily the only leader that can make things happen. Indeed, Karzai's strategy of reconciliation with the Taliban is frightening much of the population and leaving international backers confused. An excerpt from Foreign Policy:

Following closely on the heels of Karzai's visit to Washington last week, Abdullah concentrated on the importance of strengthening Afghanistan's democracy. "The success of the Afghan government ... will depend on the trust and sympathy of the majority of people in Afghanistan," he told his American audience. Unless the country's government drastically improves, the Taliban would still find willing recruits among Afghanistan's population. Afghans "want a moderate Islamic country, democracy, equal rights, respect for women's rights, education, and [to live] at peace with one another in a dignified manner," Abdullah asserted...

Abdullah Abdullah: First of all, the peace jirga is mainly a government-led initiative. It should have been a national, much more broadly based initiative, in order to gain the trust of the people. Some people in the country have interpreted this effort as an attempt to bring the Taliban back. I'm not saying that this is an attempt in that direction, but that perception -- it matters. Those things are not being considered in the preparation of the jirga. To think that we can bring [the Taliban] back [into the political process] -- they are not fighting there because they cannot be painters or carpenters. Part of the incentives is vocational training for the ex-combatants. I don't know. 

Abdullah poured cold water on the Karzai government's hope that it can offer Taliban forces incentives to abandon the insurgency and rejoin the political process. "They are not fighting to join the system -- a democratic system," he said. "They want to take Afghanistan back to the old days, where Afghanistan was the heart to international terrorism."