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Speech
17 September 2008
"Afghanistan: From stabilisation to state-building"
Speech by International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander at The
International Institute for Strategic Studies
Thank you
for that kind introduction. It is an genuine honour to be here at the
International Institute for Strategic Studies, which – I think it’s fair to say
- has provided such intellectual leadership in the field of international
relations for the past 50 years.
That I speak to you today as the International Development Secretary, I believe
reflects the changing trends in conflict over the last decade. Trends discussed
at your Global Strategic Review in Geneva last week, where the keynote speech
was given by my friend Bob Zoellick of the World Bank, who spoke of the
challenge posed by fragile states – not just to the international community’s
interests, but also to the endeavour of tackling poverty.
That challenge – as he said - requires not security as usual, or development as
usual, but an approach that brings both security and development together. And
perhaps nowhere is it more important that we get this approach right than in
Afghanistan.
Helping secure Afghanistan
An abiding memory from my last visit to Afghanistan, a little over two months
ago, was the time I spent in the cookhouse in Lashkar Gah, talking with a small
group of soldiers from my own constituency of Paisley.
As they told me how they coped with the danger and discomfort of the front line,
I was struck by the incredible bravery and resilience shown by these young lads
– and indeed by every member of our Armed Forces.
It was truly humbling to share that time with people who are prepared to make
such sacrifices for the benefit of all of us here, and I would like to take this
opportunity to extend my condolences to the family and friends of the three
British soldiers who have lost their lives in the past week in Afghanistan.
I also want to echo UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s condemnation of the
bombing attack on a UN convoy that on Sunday claimed the lives of two Afghan
doctors and their driver, who were delivering polio vaccinations to children.
Nothing – absolutely nothing - can excuse the deliberate and callous targeting
of people providing the kind of assistance that has helped to improve the life
expectancy of children in Afghanistan.
Such events are a terrible reminder of the risks shared by soldiers and
civilians alike in Afghanistan. They take those risks in pursuit of one shared
mission: to help Afghans to secure, govern and develop their country, for
themselves.
To achieve that purpose will, I would suggest, require both short-term
stabilisation – what the military calls "delivering civil effect" - and
long-term state-building. And it is on the transition from stabilisation to
state-building that I intend to focus my remarks today, covering:
- the progress made so far and the challenge that remains
- what we mean by stabilisation
- and the priorities for the job of state-building.
Progress and challenge
The United Kingdom is both the second largest bilateral donor to Afghanistan,
and - with some 8,000 troops – the second largest military contributor to the
international community’s efforts in that country. Our effort is contributing at
national and local levels towards establishing a prosperous and peaceful
Afghanistan, led by a government that represents and delivers for all Afghans.
And the last seven years have seen real progress towards that goal. Six out of
10 Afghans exercised their democratic rights by voting in elections for the
first time in more than 35 years. Five million refugees have been able to return
home. Where just 1 in 10 Afghans had access to basic healthcare, that figure is
now up to 8 in 10.
Women, of course, are now playing a more active part in society, in business, in
politics. Seven years ago only a million boys were in school across the country
– education was denied to all girls. Today, as I have witnessed myself, more
than 6 million children - over a third of them girls - are now in school.
I visited a school just outside Kabul in July, and met girls who are raising
their sights above the wildest dreams of their mothers – girls who aspire to be
doctors, teachers, and policewomen.
So the task now is to build upon the progress made in the last seven years, to
deliver our goal – to enable Afghans to secure their country for themselves, and
to govern and develop it themselves.
Easy to say, but difficult to deliver in a country broken by 30 years of
conflict. Afghanistan’s impressive Minister for Education, Hanif Atmar, summed
up the scale of the challenge when he told me that his country is trying to
tackle simultaneously four great scourges that would individually trouble any
country in the world: narcotics; poverty; insurgency and weak governance.
Afghanistan today remains the world’s biggest supplier of heroin. It is the
fifth poorest country on earth. The machinery of government has been broken by
successive decades of in-fighting and graft. And the country faces an insurgency
determined to block the progress we want to see.
Indeed, the day after visiting that school just outside Kabul I saw a very
different school in Garmsir, in Helmand province. A school that had not seen
children or teachers for many months, but instead stood pockmarked by bullets.
The Taliban burns down schools and beheads teachers for allowing girls in the
classroom - acts of brutality that make the British military presence in Helmand
so necessary.
So in my remarks today I will address the challenge facing Afghanistan in a
context where - for parts of the country – the job is not one of post-conflict
reconstruction, but in-conflict stabilisation. And I will seek to address the
ways in which the international community – through adopting a more
comprehensive approach of military, diplomatic and development assistance – can
best support the endeavours of the people of Afghanistan.
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Stabilisation
In the years since it was established, the Afghan Government has begun to
increase its presence and influence beyond Kabul. In the north and west of
Afghanistan the development challenge is to increase the reach and effectiveness
of the Government, to bring law and order and access to justice, and to combat
the corrosive influence of corruption.
In the south and east of the country, the seat of the insurgency, it is
difficult for many Afghans to live and work in safety. So there remains an
important role for international military forces in supporting the political
objective of enabling the Afghan Government to extend its own authority.
Our counter-insurgency approach in Afghanistan is often characterised as ‘clear,
hold, build’ – the strategy which was identified by General Petraeus and
underpinned the US ‘surge’ in Iraq. The phrase itself – clear, hold, build – is
of course designed to be a simple and straightforward label. But we should not
fall into the trap of thinking that these activities are by definition separate
or sequential, or that they should be interpreted literally.
Indeed, I would argue that ‘clear, hold, build’ fails to do justice to the
sophistication of our politically led counter insurgency effort across
Afghanistan. I would like to suggest that perhaps a more useful description
might be ‘engage, stabilise, develop’. Let me endeavour to explain why.
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Engage
‘Engage’ will of course require what the military describes as ‘kinetic’
engagement, to clear the threat from the Taliban insurgency. But this military
force needs to be understood and executed as part of a broader civilian-led
strategy that sees military force as a means to an end. That end is a secure
environment in which stabilisation and development can take root.
Our troops have conducted a number of successful and dramatic strike operations
this summer, not least those against two members of the Taliban leadership in
Northern Helmand – Sadiqullah and Bishmullah. Yet their work is not only about
engaging the enemy in pitched battles. As General Smith wrote in his book The
Utility of Force, "if you are fighting for the will of the people, however many
tactical successes you achieve, they will be as naught if the people do not
believe you are winning".
Counter-insurgency is above all else a battle for popular support. This cannot
be won by force alone. So ‘engage’ encompasses not only military force but also
political engagement with tribes and elders to secure agreement to a Government
and international presence, as the foundation for more wide-ranging
stabilisation work.
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Stabilise
The term ‘stabilise’ rather than ‘hold’, describes not only the use of force to
hold an area, but also the rapid work with local leaders and the civilian
population necessary to rebuild trust and confidence in the Government of
Afghanistan.
A civilian presence is now an integral part of that stabilising effort.
Political engagement with local leaders, in collaboration with provincial
Governor Mangal, sets the overall framework for the activity of military and
civilians alike. Since January, we have had civilians from the United Kingdom’s
Stabilisation Unit working right alongside the military in our Forward Operating
Bases – as I saw for myself.
They have brought much-valued civilian skills to the job of mobilising and
supporting a nascent government presence in Helmand, identifying immediate
priorities with the local population, and working with military engineers to get
projects up and running. I pay tribute to their work and the resilience they are
showing in these harsh environments.
Their military colleagues are not only providing reassurance for local
communities by patrolling areas that have been subjected to attacks and
criminality, but also working with civilians to train hundreds of Afghan
soldiers and police to take charge of security themselves. These Afghan-led
operations, acting on Afghan intelligence, are making real headway in improving
security for local citizens.
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Develop
Such work is not only helping to stabilise the local area, but by helping
Afghans to secure and govern their own communities, is contributing to lasting
change. This is the ‘develop’ element of ‘engage, stabilise, develop’.
Staff from my Department in Helmand and Kabul are working with the Afghan
Government to provide such tangible benefits for the Afghan population –
including around 50 kilometres of new or repaired roads, and wells and latrines
providing clean water and sanitation for over 300,000 people from Lashkar Gar to
Gereshk, Sangin to Musa Qala and Garmsir. The civilian team in Helmand, working
alongside the military, have funded the construction of a new building for the
Helmand Provincial Council, providing space for offices, committees and meetings
of up to 450 local elders.
Yet, while such reconstruction projects are gladly received, they are not on
their own enough to win consent or rebuild for the future. The only way to do
that is to support the legitimate Afghan authorities, in the shape of the local
community groups, the democratically elected Provincial Council, and the
Provincial Governor to take charge of their country’s own development – and by
doing so, create the certainty that it is they, not the Taliban, who are in
charge, and there for the duration.
For that reason, international soldiers and civilians alike must resist the
temptation to substitute for local capacity. This may run against the grain of
the admirable ‘can-do’ attitude of the British military. I understand that there
is frustration among military ranks at times, at what seems a slow pace of
reconstruction, and often a sense that much more would happen, much more
quickly, if we simply undertook all the work ourselves.
But we must remember that our goal is not to run Afghanistan ourselves, but to
help the Afghans to do so.
That message was unequivocally stressed by none other than General Petraeus –
who will next month take strategic responsibility for US troops in Afghanistan
in his role as the Commander of the US Central Command.
In his 14 observations from soldiering in Iraq, General Petraeus puts advice
from TE Lawrence at the very top of his list – quoting the words: "Do not try to
do too much with your own hands".
That message is as relevant in the 21st century as it was during the First World
War, and General Petraeus goes on to describe the task of supporting Iraqi
efforts rather than replacing them as: "the essence of our strategy".
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State-building
I would like to be clear that I am not suggesting that the phrase ‘engage,
stabilise, develop’ should, or is likely to replace ‘clear, hold, build’ -
either in the military manual or the popular lexicon. Instead, I offer ‘engage,
stabilise, develop’ to provide a fuller picture of what, in truth, the
comprehensive approach is beginning to achieve in southern Afghanistan – namely
engaging with Afghans to stabilise their country for themselves, and to govern
and develop it themselves.
For we will gain little if we win the war today without helping Afghans to build
the state for tomorrow. We must ask, with each of our actions – "does this
enable Afghans to take charge of their own destiny, or indeed hinder them?".
And we must do so at both provincial and national levels - for though it is
understandable that the public interest in the United Kingdom largely focuses on
Helmand, where the majority of our troops are based, we must also remember that
Helmand is one of 34 provinces. Helmand will not be a success if Afghanistan is
not a success.
To help Afghanistan to move from stabilisation to state-building, we must of
course support Afghans in Helmand and nationwide to create the effective ‘deal’
between state and citizens that Ashraf Ghani, former finance minister of
Afghanistan, identifies as the key to creating a lasting state.
When states fail to meet their citizens’ basic needs, they enter a downward
spiral where people lose trust in government, institutions lose legitimacy, the
economy becomes criminalised and the people are disenfranchised. Such states are
breeding grounds for terror and violence.
Seven years after the fall of the Taleban, Ghani argues Afghanistan is still
struggling to establish itself as a successful state, saying and I quote, that:
"it is the weakness of the government, not the strength of the Taleban, that is
the issue".
So our primary objective must be to support the establishment of an effective,
enduring Afghan state. That is why the Department for International Development
puts 80% of our aid through the Afghan Government – in order to both improve its
capacity to govern and to strengthen the connection between the citizen and the
state.
In this way, we intend to support the people of Afghanistan in the three
critical areas of state-building, namely:
- creating a lasting political settlement
- delivering the basic functions that a state must carry out in order to survive
- and engaging with the expectations and aspirations of citizens.
Political settlement
First, and of paramount importance, is creating a lasting political settlement.
Beyond simply holding elections, a political settlement requires an
understanding between competing groups about how power will be divided. Unless
the citizens of a state feel themselves sufficiently bound into the political
community, there can be no lasting settlement.
Of course at present that political community remains contested by the
insurgency – and, let me be clear, terrorist groups belong outside the political
community. We must be, and will remain, steadfast against the agents who would
seek to destabilise the Afghan Government.
Yet there is also a sense of exclusion from the current political settlement
amongst key tribal groups in southern Afghanistan – groups which must be brought
into the wider political fold, and, in coming over, can further erode support
for the insurgency. We are supporting the Government of Afghanistan’s efforts to
do exactly that.
This process has been facilitated by the changing face of the Taliban today. No
longer a movement driven and defined by strong theocratic principles, the
Taliban-led insurgency today is rather a loose alliance of those with a
grievance against the government and an interest in lawlessness – be they drug
traffickers, warlords or other criminals.
These looser ties that bind insurgents are more easily broken – as we have seen
in Musa Qala, where we have helped the government to reconcile former insurgent
leaders to the point where they are now actively working with the Governor and
British Forces to bring peace and stability to Helmand.
At a national level, the international community needs to play a role in
supporting the legitimate Afghan state’s claim to power, helping it to deliver
on the key core services that citizens expect, which will bring the state
greater credibility in the eyes of its citizens.
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Delivering basic functions
The second critical area of state-building is the capacity to perform the basic
functions of security, raising funds and rule through laws. It was in the 9th
century Islamic scholar Ibn Qutayba who said, and I quote: "There can be no
government without an army, no army without money, no money without prosperity,
and no prosperity without justice and good administration". Little has changed
in a thousand years regarding that insight.
A key concern for the Afghan people and their Government is the ability for
people to move around, to trade and conduct business, and for NGOs and others to
deliver essential services. That is why the foundation of our support for
Afghanistan – now and in the future - is destroying the Taliban-led insurgency
and supporting the establishment of the rule of law.
Tackling criminality in Afghanistan will of course mean taking on the opium
producers that make it the world’s largest supplier of heroin. This year’s UN
survey shows that opium production has fallen by almost a fifth compared with
last year, and that, as security and governance improve across the country, more
areas are becoming poppy free – up from three provinces in 2004 to 18 today.
That is more than half of the provinces in the country that are now poppy free.
Of course we are far from complacent, and we know that the majority of opium is
produced in the south of Afghanistan – helping to fuel violence and lawlessness.
That is why we are supporting the Governor of Helmand’s new counter-narcotics
strategy and providing aid to farmers in the form of seed, fertilizer and expert
advice to turn away from opium poppy and towards the cereals that can help to
ease the current food shortages afflicting the country.
We know that Afghanistan will never be stable without the constructive
engagement of its neighbours, principally Pakistan. Indeed it was significant
that President Hamid Karzai was in Islamabad last week, the chief foreign guest
at the inauguration of President Zardari. Both Presidents pledged to work
together to solve their region’s problems, with Karzai describing Afghanistan
and Pakistan as ‘twins joined’. This is a vitally important moment for the
future of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The United Kingdom is committed to
supporting the people of both countries on the road to peace and prosperity.
In addition to providing security and the rule of law, the state must be able,
of course, to raise funds through economic activity. There has been quick
economic progress in Afghanistan from a very low base – average incomes have
more than doubled since the fall of the Taliban, and the economy has grown on
average by 15% a year since 2002.
Yet 4 out of 10 Afghans today remain unemployed. Four out of 10 Afghans continue
to live in chronic poverty; and 4 out of 10 Afghan infants are underweight.
Afghanistan urgently needs to provide economic opportunities for its people.
That was why I was so keen to launch the Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility
during my visit in July. That programme will help to stimulate the Afghan
economy by, for example, cutting the red tape which means a grocer in Jalalabad
needs 40 signatures and 60 days to export his fruit across the border – by which
time almost half of it is no longer fit for sale.
Engaging with citizens
The third pillar of a lasting Afghan state must be the ability to engage with
and meet the expectations of citizens, by providing essential services, tackling
corruption and supporting press freedoms.
A poll of Afghans by the Asia Foundation last year found that 8 out of 10
felt the government was doing a good job, with people citing reconstruction as
the single biggest reason for the country going in the right direction.
British aid has supported one of the Afghan Government’s most high profile
reconstruction initiatives – the National Solidarity Programme, launched by
Ashraf Ghani. That programme has helped local communities across Afghanistan to
set and meet their own reconstruction priorities, funding more than 37,000
projects to improve roads, schools and access to clean water. And, because it is
an initiative of the Afghan Government rather than donors, it helps to
strengthen the link between the people and their representatives.
Yet, while the poll results saw people giving the Afghan Government credit for
such initiatives, they also showed that Afghans want their Government to do more
to tackle corruption and bribery. The Government has recently authorised a new
anti-corruption body reporting to the president, a special prosecutor for
corruption and a dedicated court. These new bodies must show a resolve in
tackling graft and produce results – in the form of prosecutions – if the
Government is to gain the confidence both internationally and of its own
population in this vital area.
Fundamental to holding government to account is the existence of a free media.
Recent years have seen a steady growth of new and independent media outlets in
Afghanistan, and we have supported many in strengthening their voice. Earlier
this year the Prime Minister announced that the United Kingdom would support an
independent radio station in Helmand, and our assistance has helped to train
Afghan journalists through the BBC World Service Trust. This grass-roots work
helps to give people the tools they need to become active and engaged citizens.
Beyond such long-term development projects and room for press freedoms, citizens
look to the state for protection against shocks such as drought and natural
disaster. Oxfam currently estimates that up to 5 million Afghans face severe
food shortages. The Afghan Government does not have the capacity or the
resources to respond to this alone – instead it has launched an appeal, together
with the World Food Programme, for international assistance.
The United Kingdom was among the first countries to pledge assistance to that
appeal. Yet it is clear that the international response is falling short at a
crucial and urgent time. As we approach the bitter Afghan winter, as many as
half a million pregnant women and young mothers, and more than a million
children under the age of five, are facing the threat of malnutrition.
That is why today, from this platform, I can announce that the United Kingdom
will provide a further £5 million to support the World Food Programme – bringing
our total commitment to £8 million. That support will help the World Food
Programme assist some four and a half million Afghans to find the food that they
and their families so desperately need.
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The ‘seamless garment’
In concluding, I would like to draw on a phrase used by Paddy Ashdown in his
recent book, ‘Swords and Ploughshares’. He contends that the three phases of
conflict prevention, war fighting and post-conflict reconstruction must be seen
not as separate events, but – as he describes it - as a ‘seamless garment’.
He illustrates this contention by contrasting the nature of the end of two
conflicts of the twentieth century. In the four years of the Allied
administration of West Germany up until 1949, the entire state machinery had
been constructed, elections held, a constitution written and an economic system
created which would in the years ahead make Germany the most powerful
manufacturing force in Europe.
In Afghanistan the war against the Soviet Union ended with a complete Soviet
withdrawal on 2 February 1989, after nine years of protracted conflict. And the
world turned away. The lawlessness that followed, the downward spiral of
corruption, repression and state failure, resulted in the attack on the World
Trade Centre that took place seven years and six days ago.
There is no greater security priority for the international community than
supporting the Government of Afghanistan to rebuild a country that can protect
and provide for its citizens. For in so doing, we support the people of
Afghanistan to deny space to those who would do them, and us, great harm.
Links
- Douglas Alexander announces £5 million extra food aid for Afghanistan - Press release, 17 September 2008
- Afghanistan country profile