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Global Allies Stumble
Monday, November 11, 2002
By Mark Sedra
Bonn International Center for Conversion

Mark Sedra is a research associate at the Bonn International Center for Conversion, which promotes the transfer of former military resources to civilian uses



U.S. military operations have inflamed internal rivalries in the Afghan political sphere, weakened the central administration and alienated the populace. Although the U.S. government repeatedly has affirmed its support for the central government of Hamid Karzai, U.S. policy of allying itself with regional warlords has contributed to the country's fragmentation.

One year after the Taliban fled Kabul on Nov. 13, 2001, the international community, led by the United States, has not lived up to its responsibilities in Afghanistan.

Insecurity, marked by a number of high-profile attacks against the central government and occasional interethnic fighting, has jeopardized the new regime's future.

Many Afghans' fear that the world will lose interest in the country to the detriment of reconstruction efforts, is justified. With the possibility of a U.S. strike against Iraq, a shift of global attention could have disastrous consequences.

The slow and cumbersome nature of the aid schedule established at the January Tokyo conference is the most obvious failing. Of the $1.8 billion promised to Afghanistan this year, only about $1 billion had been dispensed by September. Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has warned that Afghanistan will slide into chaos if reconstruction aid is withheld.

One striking failure is in building an effective national army. The United States was accorded a lead role. In April, it implemented a training program that has been beset by the lack of transparency and effectiveness. It allocated $50 million to train and equip 18,000 Afghan soldiers over 18 months. But, according to Gen. Tommy Franks, chief of the U.S. Central Command, under current conditions only 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers will be trained by the end of this year and 13,000 by the end of 2003.
(More: A Miami Herald News Source)
2002 © Knight Ridder/Tribune.

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