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Miliband steps up campaign for political settlement in Afghanistan

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Apr 13, IRNA -- Former British foreign secretary David Miliband Wednesday stepped up his campaign for a political solution in Afghanistan by way of a series of articles, speeches and interviews in the US and UK.

Since losing his post last May, Miliband has become a fierce critic of the US-led strategy being overly dominated by the military in contrast to his previous strong support for American foreign policy.

In an article for the Sun newspaper, he warned that although Britain's coalition government has set a timetable to end combat operations by 2014, an end date is not the same as an end game and that the “end date will prove to be an illusion if there is no end game.”

“There is only one way to bring the war to an end - by talking to the enemy. And the longer we delay, the bigger the danger,” he said, adding that there were more Taliban today than in 2005.

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Miliband urged a 'whole new level of urgency, coherence and effort' in bringing about a political endgame away from a focus on ending military engagement, and including the possibility of appointing a safe third country for all Afghan parties to negotiate from.

'It's high time we stopped behaving as if there was a military solution and developed a political one. For that, politicians need to give a lead. That is the way forward in Afghanistan – working to mend it, not just rushing to end it,' he said.

The former foreign secretary was also due to deliver a speech on Wedenesday night as part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 150th anniversary celebrations.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, he warned that Afghanistan is in danger of becoming a forgotten conflict because of events in Libya and across the Middle East and more effort to find a political solution.

Last month, Miliband joined a high-ranking group of seven former military, political and diplomatic leaders in calling for a fresh approach for an international process to secure a political settlement.

“First, the international community must endorse a diplomatic strategy for addressing not only the drivers of conflict inside Afghanistan but also its regional and international dimensions,” they said in an open letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

“Second, this must be translated into a tangible international process with strong backing from the UN Security Council, its member states and other international bodies who can offer their good offices, such as the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference),” their letter added.

“We therefore request that you set out a clear course of action to take forward an internationally-backed process to secure a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan for the UN Security Council to endorse before the next major conference on Afghanistan due in July,” it said.

Signatories of the letter also included fformer Nato secretary general Lord Robertson, former US ambassador to Afghanistan Robert Finn and former UN special representative for Afghanistan Tom Koenigs.

In a separate development, a group of eight aid agencies, including Oxfam, Christian Aid and Afghanaid, have also joined together to launch a new campaign for a comprehensive peace process in Afghanistan and for better protection of civilians.