German and European Perspectives
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for allowing me the privilege to contribute to this panel. Thanks to IISS, to John Chipman and thanks to the splendid hospitality we receive from the Kingdom of Bahrain.
I have to talk about the German and European, not only commitment, but also position in Afghanistan. First, we have to realise that this commitment is based on our own security interest. As we, in our country, have to explain to people, like in Afghanistan, we have to explain to people at home why our security is so far away from home, can be affected by having the security and stability of the Central Asian region and its neighbourhood. We have to understand our commitment, this contribution to regional and global security under a common umbrella.
Since Germany has committed to Afghanistan from the very first moment after 11 September 2001 - even before ISAF became a major mission - we still dedicate the highest priority concerning missions abroad in order to stabilise Afghanistan by a continued military and political engagement.
Actually, we have learned that in the public, in the media, the ranking is just about what the contribution from the military sectors, where Germany has the third place, but this is not that we think - that it is only military. To the Minister, my colleague, it is clear that this has to be a joint civilian and military approach in stabilisation and assisting stabilisation of Afghanistan.
The primary aim of the international commitment in Afghanistan is to avoid a new build up of safe havens for terrorists in the region, as there was until 2001. Some remain in the neighbourhood. In order to achieve this, the international community is driving to establish that ability by promoting democracy, the rule of law, economic development and regional cooperation. Operationally, this means to provide comprehensive military support to an Afghan state, sufficiently stable to take care for its own security.
Recently, we read some comments saying that nothing had been achieved since 2001. I do not share this position. Compared to the situation in 2001, I think a lot has been achieved in the meantime, despite of many shortfalls. I do not want to give a diplomatic and [inaudible] comment, but it is the fact, and I think we should highlight that some important steps concerning the stabilisation of Afghanistan have been done successfully. In 2004, the permanent Afghan constitution was approved, a compromise between traditional culture and modern constitutionalism. The constitution provided Afghanistan with a democratically elected government system, we just heard about these elections, and guaranteed rights for ethnic minorities and women. In 2006, the so-called Afghan Compact was launched. This multinational agreement represented a framework for cooperation and affirms the commitment of both the government of Afghanistan and the international community to work towards conditions which allow the Afghan people to live in peace and security, ensuring good governance and human rights protection for all, and finally, combined with a sustainable economic and social development.
You know about the joint coordination monitoring board and the players, which are the Afghan Government, the major donor countries, neighbouring countries like Pakistan and international bodies like the European Union, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and obviously, ISAF. Together, this points to the fact that the problems in Afghanistan can be solved, but cannot be solved predominantly by military means. Reconstruction, development, and security are interrelated. For this purpose, a broad range of civil and military support must be maintained in order to help the sovereign Afghan government maintain security so that all the supporting actors can support their role. The result of the international conferences on Afghanistan in Den Haag and Tokyo and the NATO summits in Strasbourg and Kiel showed that this comprehensive approach has broad support.
We now have the task to define what our and Afghans’ level of ambition is in this context. We have to spell out not only what has been achieved, but we have to spell out which capacities we want, we need, to achieve the benchmarks which we have to set in the future. Therefore, it constitutes the overall strategic framework for ISAF, specially laid out in NATO’s Comprehensive Strategic Political and Military Plan (CSCMP). The CSCMP’s priorities are important milestones for the eyes of engagement, protection of people, both of the Afghan national security forces, the fostering of good governance and development, and the intensive cooperation with Pakistan.
Above that, we believe that the success of the international allied force in Afghanistan depends to a large extent on maintaining the support of the Afghan population. In order to strengthen its acceptance by the population, it is vital that this support will cause a long-run reciprocal increase, not only in the capacity of the Afghan government, but also in the overall living conditions. Therefore, our engagement in Afghanistan, military as well as civilian must be based on four strategic principles. Our approach will have to be comprehensive, international, not only NATO coherent and sustainable. The implementation will require patience, but commitment. Afghanistan ownership should be claimed wherever possible. Within this, our military engagement – the German one is concentrated in Northern Afghanistan and Kabul - focuses its efforts on two aspects: the improvement of the security situation in those areas of Afghanistan where the insurgency remains active, and on the development of a sustainable Afghan security structure that is capable of ensuring peace and stability and protecting the people of Afghanistan.
We have always seen our contribution to the reconstruction process in Afghanistan holistically and not limited to a purely military footprint. We see, so far, the engagement in Afghanistan is successful. However, we have to realise that the security situation in Afghanistan, including the area where we have responsibility in the North, and security assistance which used in the North to be comparatively calm in the past, has deteriorated considerably. This has significant impact on the northern region, which remains Afghanistan’s economic backbone and plays an important role as a transport route for ISAF more and more as land transport coming from Uzbekistan and other regions, getting more important for the country and for ISAF.
With regard to the seriousness of the security situation in this year, the Commander of ISAF was tasked to review the operational approach to the international forces in Afghanistan, and articulate how he intends to make progress to achieve the overall ISAF strategy. We welcome the recommendations of COMISAF, in particular, regarding his approach to his focus on the Afghan population and the comprehensive approach for the future assistance, just to win the hearts and the minds.
However, prior to implementing those recommendations, a detailed resource estimate is needed. Therefore, any increase in the number of ISAF or Afghan security forces should be balanced against available international and future Afghan resources in a realistic timeframe and based on available international financial resources.
An upcoming series of international conferences, in Kabul and London in spring next year, will help us to find answers to both those open questions, together with the Afghan people and their new government. Information of this new government will provide a good opportunity to agree a clear pathway for progress in the area of security and to implement a strategy with the focus on preparations for transition, where Afghanistan is able to take full responsibility and ownership for its own security.
In this regard, we welcome the announcement of President Obama, of 1 December, to significantly increase the US civil and military engagement in Afghanistan, as well as the recent statements of many other ISAF nations to increase their contributions. We know that NATO as an alliance is at stake, and has to contribute. These additional resources, amongst others, will increase the speed of building administrative and security structures, as well as economic development. It is now, first of all, up to President Karzai and his government to prove that he has deserved the trust both of the Afghan people and the international community. In this regard, we welcome the goals set out by the Afghan President in his inaugural speech on 19 November, calling for Afghan security forces to take control of security in the whole of Afghanistan within five years.
Also, our future assistance will be guided by the understanding, the stability and the security, can only be promoted in a comprehensive approach. We continue to make sure that Afghanistan’s future is one where Afghan is shaped by Afghans, so comprehensive means not only different tools to civil and military tools, to be employed, but the cooperation of the international community and Afghanistan itself. However, the current challenge for many countries, including my country as well, is to maintain the public support for continuing operations in Afghanistan. Although it seems that it has been accepted that an Afghan face needs an Afghan pace, we need significant improvements within the next 12-24 months, not only in the security area, but in all the other areas of the Afghan Compact as well. For that reason, my country is actively supporting the preparation of the UN International Afghanistan Conference on 28 January 2010 in London, which has been initiated by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel.
This conference is to be seen as the framework to draw a balance on the engagement of the international community, and should offer a clear road map for the way ahead. We will use the outcome of this international conference to reconsider the requirement to adapt and probably increase the current civil and military engagement of our country, and as I understand, as well as a huge number of European countries. The consequences of the London conference probably, I suggest, having a follow-on meeting in Kabul in Spring 2010, we should come to a redesigned Afghan Compact that outlines benchmarks and timelines, providing achievable milestones on the way to safe-sustained stability in Afghanistan, to ensure a transition and responsibility.
We have to see such a programme, but understand the development should be both connected with timelines, and not only time-driven, but development driven. Parallel to that, NATO has already initiated the preparations for the detailed planning for the transition of the security responsibility towards the Afghan authorities. I expect that ISAF will start the transfer in the summer of next year, in those parts of Afghanistan where the conditions will allow.
I think we have to see that the commitment of all the international community in Afghanistan should be, ‘in together, out together’ commitment, as I have said several times, not like Haydn’s Farewell Symphony, where the last musician is blowing out the candle! In this process, the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police are key - and I think that we have to ask for this - to clear the problems. Advances in one area are very closely related to developments in other areas. One problem that affects all other areas is the illegal drug trade. Advances in this field depend to an equal extent on economic development, and so I think we have to invest in this field, and in a successful fight against corruption.
This is, openly speaking, crucial for the success of the mission. Therefore, let me be clear, and finish. Any campaign in Afghanistan will not succeed with bullets or bombs. Good governance and development is paramount to distract the people from the radical ideas of our opponents. In the long-run, this will stop young, idealistic people from becoming fanatics in the hands of contemptible terrorists. Since Pakistan has a key role for stability in South Asia, this common approach also has to include a Indian Sea regional cooperation. I thank the Minister for his comments on this issue and we need Pakistan’s assistance, and we should be prepared mutually to assist, if requested, Pakistan in this endeavour to help settle the situation in Afghanistan.
