Thoughts on Afghanistan: More Troops Won’t Bring Peace       

by Peter Lems

(Peter Lems, National Program Director for Education and Advocacy on Iraq and Afghanistan for the American Friends Service Committee, gave a talk, “Will More Troops Mean Peace in Afghanistan?” at a Pacem in Terris event in Wilmington, DE on February 26, 2009. This article is based on notes taken by Mary Starkweather-White at that event.)

Peter Lems showed slides and spoke about his trip to Afghanistan from late November through early December 2008.  The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has had an office in Kabul and has been running projects in Afghanistan for seven years, since shortly after the invasion in 2001. The staff is ethnically mixed, both men and women. This is important because there is a lot of tension between ethnic communities in Afghanistan, and the diversity of the AFSC staff models and reflects the reconciliation that they seek and hope for.  In 2001 the AFSC began the work of building schools in Bamyan Province – the area in Afghanistan where the giant statues of Buddha were before the Taliban Government destroyed.  All in all, the AFSC has built 12 schools in isolated rural areas of Bamyan and Faryab Provinces, because the government could not provide services in these areas. The AFSC is also doing teacher training in a government approved program where the teachers go through an accelerated course to be certified to teach at the next level. Most teachers only have a 6th or 7th grade education themselves. It is hoped that the program will provide enough certified teachers to start and staff secondary schools. Most schools in the rural areas only offer primary education.

Peter Lems has worked for 10 years at the national office of AFSC in Philadelphia, almost exclusively on Iraq issues, so he saw things in Afghanistan through the lens of that experience.  When he went to Afghanistan, he expected to hear different things from what the people actually had to say. Since the AFSC staff in Afghanistan is made up totally of Afghans, many people in Afghanistan related to Peter as being connected to an Afghan NGO, which was helpful. One of Peter’s goals in going to Afghanistan was to help write a Conflict Assessment.  He is still working on it and it is currently 120 pages long.  When it is completed, it will be available on the AFSC website. During his two weeks in Kabul, the staff was able to introduce Peter to several Afghan NGO heads, and UN and Afghan government officials.

Afghanistan is truly a house on fire. The life expectancy is 45; one in four children will die before age 5; less than 40% of the population have access to clean water.  Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries on earth with an estimated 10 million landmines that are emplaced and undetected.  One-fifth of the population left as refugees over the past thirty years and have now returned, but  the community is suffering greatly. 

What do you call this war?  There are 41 countries that have troops in Afghanistan. NATO, the US and others are doing peace-keeping and peace-building. The war there is not like the war in Iraq. The war is called different things in different parts of the country: in the west, near the Iranian border, it is called “the War against Islam”; in the southeast, near the Pakistani border, it is called “the War against the Taliban”; in the northeast, on the border with the Republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, it is called “ the War on Terror.”  Everyone there said that to understand the current war, one must understand the area’s recent history (since the ‘70s).

The monarchy was overthrown, there were several coups, and then in 1979 the Soviet Union was invited in. The Soviet Union occupied the country for 10 years, withdrawing their troops on February 14, 1989. Thus, began the war that continues to this day. After the Soviet invasion and occupation, the Mujahadin were armed by the U.S. through the C.I.A., Saudi Arabia, and other countries to fight the Soviets.  The film, Charlie Wilson’s War, deals with that period of Afghani history.  The bordering countries and some others began to arm the 7 big militias, led by Pashtuns, Uzbeks, and other ethnic groups against the Soviets—with tanks, planes, shoulder-held missile launchers, etc. The conflict between the 7 big armies was largely ethnically based. In 1989 a Geneva Accord was reached at an international gathering. The official treaty called for the removal of Soviet troops and allowed refugees from Afghanistan who were living in Pakistan to return home. However, the Geneva Accord did not rein in the 7 armies led by warlords.  There was no effort to disarm them and their demands were not acknowledged. When the Soviets withdrew, the armies fought among themselves—the Afghan version of “shock and awe”, according to the Afghani civilians there. The civil war scarred the community and caused much of the violence and damage that has plagued the country. This is what terror meant to Afghanistan.

Out of the violent civil war, the Taliban emerged as a force, guaranteeing peace, tranquility, and stability. They took power and brought a strict Islamic state which may have worked well in the rural areas, but was not accepted in the urban areas where citizens objected to the conservative social mores, such as requiring women to wear burkhas and men to grow beards. The Taliban lost the support of the people when they became repressive and decided to allow leaders of Al-Qaida to operate out of Afghanistan. The U.S. insisted that the Taliban Government turn over the Al-Qaida leaders responsible for the attack on 9/11, and when they were unwilling to do so, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and the Taliban were overthrown. A peaceful period from 2001 to 2003 ensued. The people were glad the Taliban were gone and hopeful that the government would address their needs.  Some efforts toward real change were made and in 2003 an interim government with international support (from Germany, Iran and the U.S.) took over.  However, during the deliberations in Bonn that led to the interim government, no effort was made to talk to the Taliban and they were pushed aside. The war was ending without an effort to reach out to all the parties that had lost, which is necessary for reconciliation.

There has been a steady increase in violence since 2004, linked to the presence of the international community and troops in Afghanistan.  In 2004 British soldiers went to Afghanistan to fight the anti-government Taliban elements in the provinces. Because they conducted aggressive raids, often against civilians, they pushed people into the arms of the Taliban forces. There has been a 20% increase in the level of violence each year since 2005. The UN reported that civilian casualties increased 40% from 2007 to 2008. The type of violence has changed since 2002, when there were no car bombings; now there are 3 per week. There has been an increase in assassinations, kidnappings, and targeting of foreign aid workers, who live in a climate of fear.

Peter met some heroes, too, because  there are courageous members of communities who are getting together and starting to address the wounds of war.  One such hero is Vizo Afghani, a 24-year old female university student, who has worked half her life with an NGO started by her mother twelve years ago.  She spoke very knowledgeably about many aspects of its humanitarian aid work, but she felt the most interesting development was a Young Scholars’ Forum that university students had organized with speakers from journalism, parliament and NGOs and subsequent dialogue. She feels that this was important, because if students in Pakistan need to work six hours a day, the young people in Afghanistan need to work nine hours a day to create the social transformation that they need.  She said that her generation needs to build the bridge so that the next generation has a chance at a happy life.  Peter found that the university students have the energy, the talents and the solutions to make this possible.

Ms. Afghani said that the Afghan women want what the men want. They want real power.  Right now there is a set-aside for women in the parliament, but they want to be decision makers in Parliament, not just figureheads. Women need to be able to go to the university, but it is harder for them to get high school diplomas and to meet the requirements for university entrance. There needs to be affirmative action for women by the government. Women need economic opportunity, because without it, they will be under the power of their fathers, brothers, and uncles.

Another hero Peter met was Sheik Aziz, a village elder for a neighborhood in Kabul. Elders carry great responsibility and authority in villages and cities and are greatly respected.  Peter spent half a day with Aziz and everything he had to say had to do with his community.  It was like talking with a mayor.  He said, “We are a weak economy and we cannot sustain a free-market economy.”   He observed that Afghans do not benefit from having lots of troops and contractors from other countries in their land. Aziz said that theirs was a fragile society and that it could not sustain their weak economy when the government was selling off their assets. He gave the example of a textile mill sold to China, which meant fewer jobs for Afghans, despite an alternative plan proposed by Aziz. He said that if the US spent 5% of what it spends to support the American soldiers in Afghanistan on training Afghan soldiers, they could fully train the Afghan soldiers to take over.  He said that 41 countries have not brought peace; there is no military solution.

While Peter was in Afghanistan, two crucial events happened in the region: 1) the terrorist attack on a hotel in Mumbai, India and 2) a car-bombing during a visit in Kabul of members of the Security Council of the UN. After this happened a press conference was called by President Karzai of Afghanistan who made four major points: 1) the war on terror in Afghanistan is over and that the US should focus on Pakistan and the Al-Qaida hideouts there; 2) too many civilians are being killed by foreign troops and a timeline should be set for troop withdrawal; 3) the Afghan quality of life is not improving; 4) the military involvement via provisional reconstruction teams in humanitarian and relief efforts is blurring the lines. It means that the military is involved simultaneously in both humanitarian efforts and military violence.  Karzai said that the provisional reconstruction teams are setting up a parallel government that threatens the central government. At the end of the press conference, President Karzai said, “If the international community does not like what I have said, they can get rid of me.”  In Afghanistan, the United States is very much seen as calling the shots. 

Peter asked Afghans what they thought of the speech, and they said the President should have said these things three years ago. There is very little popular support for Karzai because of massive corruption, the president’s brothers’ involvement in the drug trade, and human rights violations. A greater concern than pilfering is the belief that the government does not act on the people’s behalf. The people feel that the US is the hidden hand behind the Afghan president. When that president is seen as violating human rights, he is seen as the “U.S. guy”.

One of the biggest issues this year will be the upcoming elections that are scheduled for April. Although there was some talk about pushing the elections back to August, they will probably be held in April.  When Peter asked Sheik Aziz if he were urging people to register to vote, he replied that they were free to do as they wished.  Peter learned from his staff that hardly anyone was registering to vote. There is a malaise among people about the elections.  There are real fears of violence, so polling places have been moved from schools to hospitals. 

There have been dramatic changes in Afghanistan since Peter left. There had been rolling blackouts with different neighborhoods only receiving electricity for 6 hours every 3 days and neighbors would get together to operate diesel generators the rest of the time, contributing to the excessive pollution. Kabul is a city that can accommodate 1.5 million people, but it now has a population of four million. Many residents use firewood for warmth and cooking, further adding to the pollution. The quality of life is hard. Peter said that surprisingly many Afghans found they could watch Obama’s televised speech to Congress.  This was possible because Uzbekistan has now extended its electrical grid to Afghanistan. It is clear that any solutions for Afghanistan need to involve its neighbors. One neighbor, Turkmenistan, with natural gas resources on the Caspian Sea wants to build a pipeline to send those resources south to Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than  just to Russia. Iran, which is concerned about the security of its 600 mile border with Afghanistan, is suffering from the heroin exportation from Afghanistan. Afghanistan produces ¾ of the world’s opium used for heroin. Iran has a heroin epidemic and wants rational relations with Afghanistan and control of its borders.

The US is the largest funder of humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, but it has had a rule that no one can receive funds for aid projects who has transactions with Iran. Afghanistan is flooded with food from Iran, but none of it can be purchased with U.S. funds for humanitarian projects in Afghanistan.  The U.S. will not allow its aid money to be spent on products from Iran.  This stipulation prevents an avenue for building a possibility of better Afghan-Iranian relations.  Could there be a humanitarian corridor with Iran and Afghanistan? This could address humanitarian concerns the two countries share.

The demonization of the Taliban and the danger of the U.S. trying to do humanitarian aid with the military who are fighting a war, present problems. In 2006 the World health Organization wanted to do polio immunizations in rural areas by going house to house. Big parts of the area were under the control of the Taliban. The Taliban, when asked, agreed to the delivery of the vaccine. This was seen as a success for the UN. What it showed was that the U.S. could not have worked out a similar program.  We need to use the UN to do these things, as a prelude for dialogue.  The U.S. military could never have been the vehicle for opening a dialogue with the Taliban around humanitarian issues.  There is a need to strengthen the UN in its efforts in Afghanistan to open dialogue and provide services, as well as to get permission for other types of projects. If one starts by providing services (not through the military), everyone will want to be part of a program that will better their community..

Another thing was a surprising, unintended consequence of the global war on terror. When Peter was talking with the Afghan heroes (teachers, community leaders, students, members of parliament), he was surprised to learn that none of them had been invited to the U.S. or the U.S. Embassy or to brief visiting Congressmen. However, the United Nations had invited them.  This says something about how our country engages with the world.  These are serious roadblocks that the German Greens, Swedes and English do not have in their communication with the Afghans. They bring Afghan Parliamentarians to their countries to speak.  In the interest of peace, it is now our challenge to tear down the walls we have placed around people who do not support us and to encourage dialogue.  This could forestall invasions and future acts of terrorism against us.

Questions and Answers

1.  Should we send more troops to Afghanistan?  During the recent political campaign, Afghanistan began to be identified as “the right war” versus Iraq, “the wrong war.”  President Obama has signed an Executive Order approving 17,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan.  That is fifty percent more than the number that we now have there, but at least he is sending fewer troops than the 30,000 that the Pentagon wanted.  Nobody that Peter talked with in Afghanistan said that the U.S. should send over more troops.

2.  Besides the schools, what else is the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) doing in Afghanistan?  In addition to the schools project, the AFSC is working with psychology and psychiatry students in Kabul, and teaching the healing of trauma to teachers.  Mentors get trained for a year, and then they go out and train the teachers in the schools about how to deal with the war trauma that affects children.  They are also working on introducing conflict transformation, so that after the U.S. and international troops leave the country, there will be a civil society in Afghanistan that can build reconciliation.  At this point the Afghan Government has decided to blame all of the violence against it on the Taliban.  Yet, there are many elements of the Taliban that are moderate and would be willing to negotiate.

3.  Is anyone in Congress opposed to the War in Afghanistan?  The message that the Friends Committee on National Legislation is getting is “Whatever Barack Obama wants, he can have.”  Some people are uneasy with sending more troops to Afghanistan.  The Obama Transition Team met with a lot of advocacy groups in Washington and some of them mentioned the importance of finding nonmilitary resolutions in Afghanistan.  There is not a lack of alternatives to settling the conflict in Afghanistan militarily.  Even the military is saying that it is not possible to have a military solution there.  General Petraeus believes that 80% of the effort should be diplomatic and humanitarian rather than military.  However, when all of these functions are carried out by the military, it complicates rather than resolves issues. 

4.  What about economic development in Afghanistan?  Are there U.S. contractors there?  There are potential large-scale development projects with some of the neighboring countries.  For example, Tajikistan wants a big pipeline for its natural gas to go through Afghanistan, in order for them not to have to deal with Russia.  Currently in Afghanistan, there are two U.S. contractors to every U.S. or NATO soldier.  Blackwater, DynCorp, and many other private contractors are there.

5.  What about the role of warlords in Afghanistan?  What happened in Bonn as part of the Bonn Agreement, was that an Interim Constitution was written to serve as a guide to the Parliament.  It included a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  However, 50% of the members of the Parliament are warlords or are related to the Mujahadin.  The Parliament has voted itself immunity from prosecution.  The U.S. policy in Afghanistan is to find the right number of warlords, so that we can leave the country.  You cannot expect these militia groups to stop shooting at one another, while the U.S. is shooting at them.

The AFSC has had a focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the past sixty years.  Now, we are thinking that we need to find out more about Islamic political movements and parties that have been fueled by the secular governments that have abused their citizens.  Afghanistan is a deeply religious, conservative society.  It is not enough to just have an idea of a rule of law that is not military.  There is a need for a society with values that do not abuse people.  What Iraq and Afghanistan represent is a broader way of how the United Nations needs to look at peacekeeping, peace building, and peacemaking.  The United States looks at these things in individualistic terms.  If you just want to support state power, it is very difficult in Afghanistan because there is no strong central state, nor is there a historical tradition of one.  As for peace building, the U.S. continues to be comfortable with using aggressive military power – and does not see a contradiction between that and using the military for humanitarian efforts.  However, Afghans see the contradiction and problem.  It is not clear that having the military doing humanitarian efforts is helpful.  What we need is a new model of peacekeeping and peace building.  Good websites to go to about this are Robert Greenwald’s Rethink Afghanistan, United for Peace and Justice – Afghanistan (www.unitedforpeace.org), Friends Committee on National Legislation (www.fcnl.org), and the American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org).

Peter Lems is the American Friends Service Committee’s National Program Director for Education and Advocacy on Iraq and Afghanistan.  He spoke in Wilmington, DE on February 26, 2009 at the invitation of Pacem in Terris about his visit to Afghanistan in late November and December 2008 to meet with AFSC staff there, to help design the organization’s program work for the coming year, and to help write a detailed Conflict Assessment of Afghanistan which will soon be available on line at www.afsc.org

[The editor expresses her deep gratitude to Mary Starkweather-White whose excellent notes comprise this article.]


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