Afghanistan faces many challenges in rebuilding
Ambassador speaks of progress, problems
Peter Zysk
Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: News
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"Afghanistan is the original front in the war against terror," said Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States. Said T. Jawed addressed an overflow crowd on Thursday, March 1, in the Barbieri Courtroom of the Gonzaga Law School. Jawed's speech addressed the problems that Afghanistan still faces and the progress made toward reconstruction.
In the past year the number of roadside bombs detonated in Afghanistan has doubled and overall attacks against Afghan and coalition troops have increased 300 percent, said Jawed.
Jawed said that the increase in terrorism in the country can be attributed to a general lack of resources required to fight the insurgency. Domestically, the nation lacks the resources and manpower to fight and the Afghan army is in the process of being built. Regionally, terrorist training camps still exist within the country and in neighboring nations. Internationally, more coordination is needed among NATO, coalition and Afghan troops.
Terrorism is still happening in Afghanistan and terrorists operate mainly by killing clergy and burning schools and clinics, Jawed said. Although terrorism exists, Jawed argued that Afghanistan is not a hotbed for extremism.
"If there were so much sympathy for extremism in Afghanistan then the Taliban would not have collapsed so quickly, said Jawed.
Jawed said that after the Taliban fell, members of the Taliban who had not committed war crimes were invited to participate in the process of rebuilding the nation as well as they promised to cooperate completely. "We are not going to build a coalition government with the terrorists," Jawed said on working with the Taliban as a group though.
"A stable Afghanistan is the key to regional security," said Jawed. He argued that past instability after the 1979 Soviet invasion was what allowed the Taliban to flourish.
Jawed said that great strides have been made in the rebuilding process in Afghanistan. In the last 5 years more than 10,000 kilometers of roads have been built in the nation. Loans and grants have been given to villages so that they can choose to spend the money how they most need it.
In the past year the number of roadside bombs detonated in Afghanistan has doubled and overall attacks against Afghan and coalition troops have increased 300 percent, said Jawed.
Jawed said that the increase in terrorism in the country can be attributed to a general lack of resources required to fight the insurgency. Domestically, the nation lacks the resources and manpower to fight and the Afghan army is in the process of being built. Regionally, terrorist training camps still exist within the country and in neighboring nations. Internationally, more coordination is needed among NATO, coalition and Afghan troops.
Terrorism is still happening in Afghanistan and terrorists operate mainly by killing clergy and burning schools and clinics, Jawed said. Although terrorism exists, Jawed argued that Afghanistan is not a hotbed for extremism.
"If there were so much sympathy for extremism in Afghanistan then the Taliban would not have collapsed so quickly, said Jawed.
Jawed said that after the Taliban fell, members of the Taliban who had not committed war crimes were invited to participate in the process of rebuilding the nation as well as they promised to cooperate completely. "We are not going to build a coalition government with the terrorists," Jawed said on working with the Taliban as a group though.
"A stable Afghanistan is the key to regional security," said Jawed. He argued that past instability after the 1979 Soviet invasion was what allowed the Taliban to flourish.
Jawed said that great strides have been made in the rebuilding process in Afghanistan. In the last 5 years more than 10,000 kilometers of roads have been built in the nation. Loans and grants have been given to villages so that they can choose to spend the money how they most need it.