State's Burns Identifies Progress, Challenges in Afghanistan
02 November 2006
Discusses security, counternarcotics, infrastructure, economic development
Washington – Afghanistan has made progress toward growth and stability in the five years since the fall of the Taliban regime and the United States remains committed to helping the people of Afghanistan confront the serious challenges that still face it, says Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns.
“Security continues to be our primary priority. We have seen an increased number of attacks in Afghanistan this year, particularly in the South and East,” Burns told a group of U.S. and Afghan business leaders at the U.S.-Afghan Business Matchmaker Conference in Washington October 31. “These attacks do not pose a strategic threat to the central government, but they do have an impact by preventing the government from effectively expanding its mandate.” (See related article.)
He said the Taliban and other criminal elements have sought to test the will of the newly deployed NATO forces, but added, “NATO contingents have proven themselves to be extremely effective by winning military successes against the Taliban.” Burns also praised the growing capabilities of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to take responsibility for security operations.
He said the most important element of the joint U.S.-Afghan security strategy is road building. “The success of the Taliban depends on ungoverned and unpaved areas, where they can operate out of sight of the local authorities,” he said. “Roads change that picture dramatically.”
He said that more than 1,500 kilometers of roads have been built in the past five years, allowing easier movement of police and army units to security hotspots and improving the economy by employing Afghan citizens and facilitating the transport of goods to market.
The second major challenge Burns identified was the growing narcotics trade. He cited U.N. statistics saying that Afghanistan’s 2006 opium crop was the largest in recorded history.
“Opium poppy cultivation brings corruption, weakens the Afghan government, and funds terrorist and insurgent groups,” he said. “The situation is very troubling.”
He said the United States is working with the Afghan government to establish a comprehensive counternarcotics strategy. This includes alternative crop programs for farmers, public information campaigns, drug interdiction, reform of the judicial sector and eradication of crops.
He cited Nangarhar province as an early success story. The provincial governor adopted the central government’s eradication policies, and local farmers were provided seeds, equipment and advice for producing high-value cash crops. As a result, Burns said, the province has seen a 96 percent drop in poppy cultivation over the past two years.
Burns said infrastructure is key to Afghanistan’s economic growth. He said that in addition to roads, the United States is funding numerous power projects, building capacities in generation, transmission and distribution. The under secretary added that the private sector is the primary means of development for Afghanistan.
“While the United States and other international donors can help Afghanistan create the conditions for a strong economy through security and infrastructure, we simply cannot make it happen alone. Real revitalization requires the ingenuity and expertise of the private sector,” he said.
Burns indicated that the United States could encourage economic growth by establishing Reconstruction Opportunity Zones, which would allow duty-free access to U.S. markets for certain products, but he said it is up to the Afghan private sector to seize the opportunities and become the driving force behind the country’s development.
The full text of Burns’ remarks as prepared for delivery is available on the State Department Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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