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NATO Supreme Commander Praises Progress of Afghan Army

21 September 2006

Effective counternarcotics effort still needed, General Jones tells senators

Washington –- Afghanistan’s national army is the brightest spot in country’s new democracy, NATO’s supreme commander says.

“By far, the Afghan National Army is the most successful pillar of our reconstruction efforts to date,” Marine General James Jones told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee September 21.  (See related article.)

Military reform is one of the five pillars of Afghan security sector reform formally established in April 2002 at a donors’ conference in Geneva, Switzerland.  The United States agreed to be the lead country in promoting military reform; Germany did the same for police reform; Japan agreed to head the task of disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating ex-combatants; Italy agreed to be the lead for judicial reform; and the United Kingdom stepped forward on counternarcotics efforts.

“[T]raining the police forces, jump-starting the judicial reform, and developing an effective counternarcotics program are, hand-in-hand, three of the most important things that need to be done in Afghanistan in the near future,” Jones said.

Despite some progress in the development of an Afghan national police force, Jones said he believes much more needs to be done to assure adequate training, equipment and pay, to provide greater numbers of officers, and to prevent corruption.

“[W]e need more emphasis on this very important pillar,” of the country’s democratic future he added.

Jones said that reforming the Afghan justice system, though not NATO’s responsibility in Afghanistan, “is one of the pillars that needs -- probably -- the most attention in the shortest amount of time.”  Courts and prosecutors “remain distrusted, overly corrupt and resource-starved,” though some progress has been made, he told senators.

Jones said that in a recent meeting with the Afghan attorney general, he learned that prosecutors’ pay averages $65 per month, while a judge makes less than $300 per month.  By contrast, he said, an interpreter working for the United Nations in Afghanistan earns 500 euros per month; apartments in the capital of Kabul rent for $150-to-$200 per month; and the Taliban is said to pay young people who support its military operations $250 per month.

“This is simply a situation that cannot be allowed to stand if we're serious about judicial reform,” Jones said.  “With such disincentive, temptation for corrupt practices will continue.”

The problem that Jones said worries him most is the lure of narcotics.  Afghanistan, he said, “is unfortunately well on its way” to being a “narco-state.”

He said U.N. estimates gauge this year’s poppy crop at nearly 60 percent above previous yields, which he described as “a situation that is going in the wrong direction.”  The poppies are processed into heroin.  (See related article.)

“We need to find the right means to ensure that farmers can economically grow and sell legal produce,” he said.

Afghanistan is no longer a failed state, he said, but it is still “a fragile state.”

To ensure long-term success, Jones said, “efforts must be significantly increased” in the fields of education, agriculture and public health, with greater emphasis on economic development and government services.

“[T]he ultimate success in Afghanistan is not simply a military one,” Jones said.  “We are working with the international community and the Karzai government to make sure that our military efforts are immediately followed very quickly with reconstruction and development activities.”

He added that by voting in two national elections the Afghans showed they understand the effort required and are eager “to see the benefits of their new-found freedoms and opportunities.”

For more information, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)