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Afghanistan conference

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Afghan forces will begin taking control of security in some of the country’s provinces by the end of 2010, a key summit on its future has pledged. In a statement at the end of the one-day meeting, delegates said the process would be complete within five years. The final communique from the one-day summit in London said it welcomed Afghanistan’s goal of taking charge of the “majority of operations in the insecure areas of Afghanistan within three years and taking responsibility for physical security within five years.” It said the international community would continue to improve the capabilities of the Afghan security forces, boosting the army to 171,600 and the police to 134,000 personnel by October 2011. The summit said the Afghan government had acknowledged that it had to tackle corruption. Marco Werman talks with Afghanistan’s finance minister Omar Zakhilwal, who is also Chief Economic Adviser to President Karzai.

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MARCO WERMAN: One of the leading Afghan delegates at the conference is Omar Zakhilwal.  He’s Afghanistan’s Finance Minister and Chief Economic Advisor to President Karzai.  Zakhilwal is also one of the key proponents of trying to reach out to the Taliban and reintegrate them into society.

OMAR ZAKHILWAL:  There is a large number of Taliban who are with them either because of economic reasons, either because of grievances, either because of fear and what we need to do is to provide environment that is conducive for them to join mainstream society.

MARCO WERMAN: How far has the Karzai government gone in establishing this dialogue with the Taliban.  Have you at least identified Taliban members and officials, leaders who you think can be spoken with?

OMAR ZAKHILWAL: The government has always been in contact with elements of the Taliban, the lower level, the mid level and at the high level.  What it did not have was the support of the international community.  Therefore the Afghan government could not give assurances to elements who wanted to join a peaceful way of life.  Now with the London conference and the strong endorsements from the U.S., the U.K., from other donors, we have the backing and we can give the assurances to our enemy that if they renounce violence, if they distance themselves from Al Qaeda, they respect Afghan constitution that ensures basic human rights and woman rights, they could come not only an ordinary peaceful life, but they could also be part of the political process.  They could run and be members of the Parliament.  If they have the capability just like any other Afghan, they could also serve in the government in whatever post they’re capable for.

MARCO WERMAN: We’ll be getting the Taliban back into the camp of normalcy, shall we say.  Will that involve money?  Will that involve cash payments to the Taliban to get them back on the right side?

OMAR ZAKHILWAL: Again, peace comes with a cost.  But the cost of peace is many, many times less than the cost of war.  Yet the benefits are many times greater.

MARCO WERMAN: Well one issue that stands out for many Afghan citizens, just as much as security, maybe even more so, and that is corruption.  How will that picture change?  How will you stop people working for your government from demanding bribes or simply extorting money from fellow Afghans?

OMAR ZAKHILWAL: We have made progress.  Again fighting corruption is inevitable in institutions that are weak.  But what we also presented in the London conference was a comprehensive program to combat corruption not only reactively but also proactively by reforming institutions, streamlining procedures and improving services to the public.  So definitely corruption is high on our agenda and we’re pretty confident that again we will make good progress on that front.

MARCO WERMAN: Now as far as the security situation in your country, President Obama last night in his State of the Union Address sounded pretty hopeful about the rising quality and number of Afghan troops and police and a future where they’re taking on a fuller measure of responsibility.  What is your assessment of the capabilities of the Afghan forces right now?

OMAR ZAKHILWAL: We have full confidence in them.  They are increasing in strength.  Right now 60% of our operation – - are conducted by our own national security forces.  Just weeks ago I personally was witness to the sophisticated suicide attacks around my Ministry by the Taliban, or elements of them.  It was only our security forces that responded to them and with very minimum casualties.  Within a few hours everything was calmed down.  So that shows the competence and capability of our own security forces.

MARCO WERMAN: You’re talking about the attack last week in the center of Khabul?

OMAR ZAKHILWAL: Absolutely.

MARCO WERMAN: Mr. Zakhiwal, since you’re the Finance Minister, you’re in a pretty good position to answer this next question.  How will you pay for these new Afghan troops this year and in future years?  I’ve heard that the GDP in Afghanistan is simply not big enough to pay the full bill.

OMAR ZAKHILWAL: Well what we expect is the international community will pick the bill up for us.  Investing in Afghan security forces costs a thousand times less than what it costs U.S. soldiers.  Right now one American soldier in Afghanistan cost about a million dollars per year.  One Afghan soldier costs about five thousand.  So the aim here is that as we gain self-sustainability we will rely less and less on U.S. soldiers and their sacrifices and for a fraction of their costs.

MARCO WERMAN: Omar Zakhilwal is the Finance Minister of Afghanistan, a Chief Economic Advisor to President Karzai who is speaking with us from a special conference on Afghanistan in London.  Thank you very much..

OMAR ZAKHILWAL: Thank you.

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