The window for the US and ISAF to execute a successful strategy in Afghanistan may be closing. Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently confirmed that informal negotiations are going on with the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan. Karzai told CNN that the Taliban can rejoin the government if it accepts the country's constitution. If successful, the negotiations could bring peace inside Afghanistan and thereby increase the pace of the planned withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), predominately enabled by United States (U.S.) troops.
These negotiations underscore some of the challenges associated with President Barack Obama's Afghanistan strategy, whose turbulent birth is detailed in the new book, Obama's Wars. The author, Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward, chronicled 20 months of battles within the Obama White House and the belief of many in the national security team that the President's strategy would not work -- a mid-sized troop buildup coupled with a publicly announced date for withdrawal of those troops.
One of the most striking things to me about Woodward's reporting is that no high-level Afghan voices were included in the White House deliberations. According to the book, no one asked what the troop withdrawal deadline would mean to the Afghan people. If the Afghan perspective had been cultivated, strong consideration would have been given to the impact of an announced troop withdrawal date on the ability to mobilize popular support.
It may well have been important for President Obama's domestic American audience not to create the perception of a blind, open-ended military commitment. However, publicizing wartime goals and timelines revealed America's intent to our mutual adversaries. Unsure about the long-term ISAF commitment to them, the Afghan population has been hesitant to support our goodwill efforts to develop and rebuild the war-torn country. The personal and family risks to those who aided U.S. forces in Vietnam, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq and a host of other countries where the U.S. military engaged, but left before the job was done, is hard for America's Afghan friends to ignore. The Taliban has been content to sit back and wait, secure in the knowledge that its patience will eventually pay off with victory. The current negotiations could be just a ploy by the Taliban, a strategy to speed the ISAF withdrawal and increase its influence within Afghanistan. Many Afghans are worried about this possibility.
We need to remember why the ISAF originally committed troops into Afghanistan. The main objectives were to defeat al Qaeda and prevent it from having a safe haven in Afghanistan and to prevent a cascading radical Islamic revolution in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
As ISAF members prepare to attend the NATO Lisbon Summit next month, their main concern should be on how they can achieve these stated objectives. While Afghanistan is not Iraq, the same principles of demonstrated commitment apply in winning over the local populations. The economic, social and political needs of Afghan tribes and villages must be included in Washington's decision-making.
The Afghan first program which emphasizes using Afghan contractors to maximize employment of Afghans and to assist with training and capacity building is the type of program that ISAF should expand to assist with winning over locals. ISAF's current plan for Afghanistan can only be successful if it is implemented to its fullest extent.
We must remember the words of Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said that "resolve is a force multiplier." The Afghan government, the Taliban, and regional nation-states are all hedging their bets on the reliability of the American and NATO's commitment to the country. So are villagers and tribal leaders across the country. It is essential that the Obama administration acknowledges and specifies the level of sacrifice that is still required to meet our strategic goals in Afghanistan. Once they articulate this clearly, the military and the private sector in Afghanistan can engage in a constructive dialogue on the best way to meet the President's challenge.
Hamed R. Wardak is the chairman, president and founder of NCL Holdings, LLC, a global provider of air, ground and secure logistics support in complex environments, like Afghanistan, Mexico and Colombia.
yes I am from his tribe, but our tribe goes into the millions. Pashtuns population is around 45 milion.
35 million in Pakistan and 10 million in Afghanistan. And just being Pashtun or even from the same tribe doesn't make you best friends or supporters of thiefs. Dignity comes first. You really think winning contracts is so difficult, then you must have no clue how DC works. I would suggest you to google Mr. Wardak's name in order for you to read a little more about this guy and how they( people like him being in the criminal syndicate) get contracts.
I never mentioned conspiracies. I repeated General Petraeus' and the whole wider western nomenclature's point of public view. That this government of Karzai is fraudulent and a gang of criminals. In Petraeus' words. " A criminal syndicate".
Rodriguez, get your facts right hombre.
In particular, the Kabul "government" is in a difficult position where their best option may be to stay obviously-weak enough that we'll have to keep propping them up. We're better off if they understand that that's not an option.
I would like to focus today on three issues. First, the need for multiple pipeline routes for Central Asian oil and gas resources. Second, need for U.S. support for international and regional efforts to achieve balanced and lasting political settlements to conflicts inregion, including Afghanistan. Third, the need for structured assistance to encourage economic reforms and the development of appropriate investment climates in the region. In this regard, we specifically support repeal or removal of section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.
Mr. Chairman, the Caspian region contains tremendous untapped hydrocarbon reserves. Just to give an idea of the scale, proven natural gas reserves equal more than 236 trillion cubic feet. The region's total oil reserves may well reach more than 60 billion barrels of oil. Some estimates are as high as 200 billion barrels. In 1995, the region was producing only 870,000 barrels per day. By 2010, western companies could increase production to about 4.5 million barrels a day, an increase of more than 500 percent in only 15 years
His father being Minister of defense made it possible for him to fetch US government contracts which are in the tens of millions. People that had no penny in the states.His plea for ISAF and NATO to stay is based on one fact, more government contracts. As long as the conflict goes on, his pocket is filled with US tax payer money. Hamed Wardak and his father Abdul Rahim Wardak are accused of embezzlement and corruption in many counts but because of the cronyism of President Karzai and his inner circle, are still not convicted.
These are the people to get rid of in Afghanistan and their cleptocratic run government. If the US wants to achieve a prosperous exit and build peace, these are the first people to put on trial.