The devastating and tragic event of 9/11 landed American forces in Afghanistan to capture Osama bin Laden and destroy al Qaeda who had taken shelter there. The intrigue has lasted more than a decade and continuing, although Osama bin Laden and his cronies slipped into Pakistan in October of 2001 and bin Laden was executed in Pakistan in 2011 . The decade-long occupation of the U.S. has caused many Afghans to have doubts the true intentions of the United States in Afghanistan. The 9/11 event is viewed by Afghans as an Arab criminal conspiracy in which the Afghans had no part in it. Therefore the link is lost between 9/11 and the long occupation of Afghanistan. Besides, more than 50% of the population of Afghanistan are below the age of 15 years of age and do not remember the events of 9/11 tragedy.
In November of 2001 under the auspices of the United States, the first Bonn summit was held to create a government of Afghanistan to succeed the Taliban. A retired State Department official, James Dobbins, selected Mr. Hamid Karzai president of Afghanistan based on his ethnicity (he was a Populzai Pashtun) and to appease the Iranian and Russian delegates while disenfranchising participants of the Afghanistan delegation whose votes for president was ignored..
Unfortunately the first Bonn summit was a sham; it turned into a fiasco with disastrous results for the Afghans and the occupying forces of ISAF, NATO and the United States. During 2001 - 2011 as the United States increased its troop level from a few hundred in 2001 to 100,000 by 2011, the security situation got worse and U.S. and Afghan casualties mounted annually. August 2011 was the worst month for 70 U.S. soldiers who died, bringing the total dead to 1,762 with more than 10,000 who have suffered disabilities. Afghan civilian casualty estimates vary between 15,000 - 25,000 dead and approximately 100,000 disabled. U.S. counterinsurgency approach in Afghanistan was not effective. During the same period, warlords and drug lords who had fled the Taliban returned to power and grabbed wealth. Karzai's government was repeatedly accused of rampant corruption by the international community. The central government failed to reach to the 36,000 Afghan villages.
A second summit conference is being scheduled on Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, for December 5, 2011. Is the second Bonn conference going to render some effective service for Afghanistan in terms of creating employment and educational opportunity for boys and girls? Justice must be rendered to all individuals who have violated human rights including warlords, drug lords and corrupt government officials. Sensitive cabinet and senior posts in the government must be given to selected individuals who are secular, educated, nationalistic, patriotic and honest. Any government officials who take bribes must go to prison for no less than 10 years. Law and order must be enforced strictly and amnesty for criminals must be repealed. Donors must make good their promise of assistance and deliver with priority given to jobs at all levels with a target of reducing unemployment rate to below 10% within a year. The size of the current Afghan army should be restricted to 200,000 as the government's revenues cannot sustain a higher number.
In conclusion, the first Bonn meeting was a sham. Expectation is high for the second Bonn meeting but it could be a sham unless the rein of power is turned to qualified Afghans who desire to bring true democracy and a just society in Afghanistan. The three unpopular entities in Afghanistan right now are the Taliban, the Karzai government and the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The donor countries, most notably the United States, bear a major responsibility to correct the mistakes of the past and set the Afghans on the right path first by ending the war and secondly by blocking the warlords, drug lords and corrupt officials from the governmental positions. Otherwise, enlightened Afghans may have to take upon themselves and emulate Egypt, Libya, & Syria to bring about a democratic change.
*Sajia Kamrany is the executive producer of Afghanistan TV and a weekly commentator on satellite TV communicating directly with viewers all over Afghanistan on social and political issues. Nake M. Kamrany is professor of economics and director of program in law and economics at the University of Southern California.
Bush's appointee. He has no sanding in Afghanisan..
It is time to seek a resolution of 35 years of war in Afghanistan. Please read the attached link which authored co-authored with me. She is now the most popular commentator on the issue. My proposal is as follows:
1. The U.N. get all 42 countries out of Afghanistan
2. The U.N. should declare a non-military approach to resolving Afghanistan's impasse
3. The U.N. shall call for a Loya Jirga (authetnic one not a fraud like Khalizad's approach)
4. The Loya Jirga shall appoint a transitionary government for 5 years consisting of technocrats who are patriotic, educated, experienced, honest, nationalistic, secular and dedicated Afghans.
5. After 5 years they should hold an election
Please let me know what you think of this proposal, will you support it?
regards,
Your Friend,
Nake Kamany
Nake Kmrany, Ph.D, J.D.
Professor of economics and Director in Law and Economics
That is a very optimistic expectation to have when countries like Pakistan and Iran are involved. Right now, with armies and diplomatic presence of 42 countries in Afghanistan, Pakistan bombs the eastern parts of Afghanistan without any restriction or fear, ISI sends fighters of Haqqanee to attack US embassy, how can we expect them to respect some UN agreements and not interfere in Afghanistan. Mr. Kamrany must be somebody who never lived in this part of the world. Pakistan fed and lodged Bin-Laden for 10 years, formally denying it to the whole world. Look at Iran, on one hand it is arming Taliban and on the other hand is embracing Karzay in each state visit, calling him brother and even giving him cash for his personal use. Do you think people with this kind of morals and ethics will ever respect any international agreements. The only thing they know is FORCE, FORCE and once again force. Lets not kid ourselves, that part of the world needs 100s of years to make them respectful of anything resembling agreements. The leaders of different fractions of Afghan's resistance against Soviet Union, as usual, were fighting with each-other over money and power. They made an historic agreement in Mecca, the holiest city for Muslems. Guess how many days they respected it? Zero, upon return to their territories they started fighting again.
Just a thought
It appeas that we are in total agreement. Your job and mine now is to make sure that "the gubby gbroup"does not take the helm of government in Kabul again. The U.N. has to declare a non-military approach to resolving the Afghanistan imapsse. Let us bring our troops home and never engage in an intrigue like this one again as Mr. Gates, the former Defense Chief suggesgted. Since you seem to know a lot about Afghanisan, I will be most interested in your ideas and opinion as to how the U.N. can succeed and how to get it involvedd. I am thinking to take a trip to D.C. and see the Afghan envoy and a few others. I wish Halbrooke were alive, he would have been mos valuable at this time. Regards..
Let's elect Sajia the next president of Afghanistan - she is the Mrs. Clinton of Afghanistan - bright, pretty, with sense of humour & lots of knowledge and deep understanding of the culture. Sajia will solve Afghanistan's problems since she is a leader like no other. She has inspired thousands of Afghans - men, women, children, young and old - in all of the provinces of Afghanistan. Her only opposition might be the Taliban.
You can not expect us not to defend us and not to attack or bomb a home from where they shoot at us and kill our young men and women. How do you suggest we should treat them ?
Pakistan can not last long and also falls, both countries effectively will be in the hands of Alqayeda. In case you have not heard, Pakistan has Nuclear Weapons. Israel will be the first target of Pakistan's Nucs. In addition to Pakistan and Afghanistan countries like Tajikistan + Uzbekistan + Turkmenistan + Kazakhstan with Iran's blessings become the center of Terrorist Attacks against USA , Europe and other civilized countries.
All that is true, but it would be a stretch to call her a leader or give her a leadership position.
she finances her show out of her own pocket and some sponsorship by Afghans. Neverheless, she renders great service to Afghans. Well Mr. Logar, are you the deep throat of the Afghanistan intgtrigue??? Maybe you will reveal youself 30 years from now......