Military

DATE=11/28/01

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=AFGHAN SUMMIT

NUMBER=6-125483

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: Multi ethnic talks aimed at plotting the future of Afghanistan have opened in Germany near Bonn, and the American press is both reporting and editorializing on the talks.

We get a sampling of early reaction now from ___________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: The talks are being held in German town of Koenigswinter, just outside of Bonn. Four of Afghanistan's major political and ethnic factions are represented, as well as some of the smaller ones. Principally, they represent the Northern Alliance of Uzbeks and Tajiks, the Pashtuns from the South, divided into two groups, and the nation's former King, who has been exiled in Rome for over two decades.

We begin our sampling with Florida's [Miami] Herald, which says in part:

VOICE: With the outcome of the war in Afghanistan now a foregone conclusion - - it never really was in doubt - - attention now shifts to the aftermath. How to put the country back together again? For this task, the United States is in a more precarious position than it was in putting together the military coalition to fight the war.

. . .The Bush administration has encouraged the United Nations to give chief negotiator Lakhdar Brahimi broad latitude to help create a rebuilding process that allows Afghanistan's various ethnic and religious groups eventually to take "ownership" in reconstructing the country. ...The United States should apply the lessons that it has learned from years of experience - - some of it unsuccessful - - in places such as Bosnia, Haiti and Somalia.

TEXT: Excerpts from a Miami Herald editorial. The Chicago Tribune suggests the meeting is important if a political and social vacuum is to be avoided.

VOICE: With the leaders of various ethnic factions ... meeting now in Bonn to try to establish a post-Taleban government, the potential for chaos grows. ... In the vacuum left by the disintegration of the Taleban, a cauldron of ethnic minorities with historic grievances and long memories will compete for control of the country. And ... its powerful neighbors may be inclined to offer covert support to different factions seeking dominance there.

TEXT: Taking a somewhat brighter view, South Carolina's Charleston Post and Courier says of the summit:

VOICE: Judging by the first day of talks between representatives of the major ethnic groups that make up Afghanistan, the war-torn nation has a good chance of recovering from its wounds. There was general agreement that four of the formerly warring factions ... got along surprisingly well. That is particularly good news for the Bush administration, which does not relish the task of nation building.

/// OPT ///

It was particularly encouraging that Afghan unity received a strong endorsement from a leader of the Pashtuns, who form the largest of Afghanistan's ethnic groups. In a telephone call from southern Afghanistan, Pashtun leader Hamid Kara said: "We have been made extremely poor and vulnerable, but we are a strong people who would like to assert our will and a sense of self-determination. This meeting is the path toward salvation."

/// END OPT ///

TEXT: In the East, The New York Times says inclusion of the majority Pashtuns in decision-making at the session and in the country, is critical for the nation's future.

VOICE: The critical challenge (for the talks in Bonn) will be assuring that a prominent role in the next government is reserved for anti-Taleban Pashtuns, although it has been the Northern Alliance that has so far done most of the fighting and won most of the military victories.

To marginalize credible Pashtun leaders, as some in the Northern Alliance seem to prefer, would open up Afghanistan to further conflict. No stable government will be able to establish its authority over eastern and southern Afghanistan if the country's Pashtuns feel excluded.

TEXT: Views of The New York Times.

In Ohio, The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer calls the initial Germany meeting "encouraging" but adds that whether the summit: ...will lead to a free and tolerant Afghanistan remains to be seen." /// In Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune suggests, "The really hard work starts now."

VOICE: The political effort will be no less difficult and fraught with danger than the ... military. Afghanistan is a fractious land, riven by ethnic and territorial rivalries. Kneading the factions into a unified government will require exceptional skill and perseverance...

TEXT: Just across the Mississippi River, The Saint Paul Pioneer Press takes up the theme heard earlier from The New York Times for more Pashtuns, the dominant ethnic group, and more women to be included in the talks.

VOICE: The diplomatic effort to build a transitional government from the dust of Afghanistan's destitution comes together ...in Germany, where delegates from four Afghan groups that have opposed the Taleban's rule are meeting with U-N officials. Bitter experience with failed states has taught important lessons that must be applied to building a functioning Afghanistan from the rubble of wars and cultural decimation.

The challenge is to flesh out a mechanism to maintain peace before the shooting stops. That is a tall order [Editors: slang for a "difficult job"] made doubly difficult in Afghanistan because of old grudges, ethnic distrusts and designs and the abrupt demise of Taleban control. It is worrisome that events on the ground in the fast-changing security climate of Afghanistan are reported to be spawning de facto negotiations that could sideline U-N-sponsored efforts before they get a full chance in the meetings near Bonn.

TEXT: The views of Minnesota's Saint Paul Pioneer Press.

In the South again, Jacksonville's Florida Times-Union is pleased Afghanistan's former King is attending the session.

VOICE: Former King Zahir Shah... widely admired by the Afghan people ...is a member of the dominant Pashtun ethnic group. The aging Shah has no interest in ruling, but his blessing to a new government could be the proverbial glue that holds Afghanistan together in the post-Taleban era.

TEXT: Lastly, New Hampshire's Manchester Union Leader, evoking the history of Somalian peace talks where no one took a leadership role, says if that happens again, it will spell disaster. "Lead, don't facilitate" is how the paper puts it in the editorial headline.

VOICE: Reporters and pundits are comparing [the] ...talks to those sponsored by the United Nations in Somalia a few years ago. Let's hope they're wrong. The Somalia talks were a disaster because nobody dared lead. As long as victor nations maintain the U-N policy of not leading, we will continue to get bungles like Somalia, where 18 U-S servicemen were killed and dragged through the streets because everyone was too afraid of being called a "colonialist" to stand up and do anything. In time of war, it's perfectly moral to eradicate a government and replace it with one that poses no threat to world stability.

TEXT: On that note from New Hampshire's Manchester Union-Leader, we conclude this sampling of editorial comment on the Afghan leadership meeting in Germany.

NEB/ANG/MAR