Afghan Policy in Midst of Growing Attacks on US and NATO Troops

The US Ambassador to Afghanistan says that “now is not the time to decide that we are done here.”

That despite growing The US Ambassador to Afghanistan says that “now is not the time to decide that we are done here.”

Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Caroline Wadhams of the Center for American Progress.

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Lisa Mullins: I’m Lisa Mullins and this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service PRI and WGBH in Boston. The backlash continues in Afghanistan a week after it was revealed that U.S. troops there burned copies of the Koran. About 40 people have been killed so far including two U.S. military advisers who were shot to death over the weekend. The the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack today. A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle and the gates of a NATO base in Eastern Afghanistan that triggered a blast that killed nine Afghans. Caroline Wadhams focuses on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and U.S. National Security issues at the Center for American Progress in Washington. The U.S. as you know, Caroline, and other NATO members have temporarily pulled out advisers, in the case of the U.S. hundreds of advisers to from Afghan government offices in response to what’s been going on, the wave of violence. Still in the U.S. Commander for Afghanistan says the partnership of the Afghan government is as strong as ever. Do you believe that?

Caroline Wadhams: I think the relationship is under serious strain and has been for some time. I do think that Ambassador Crocker or the U.S. Ambassador there has improved the relationship with President Karzi over the past year so it was really at a nadir with Ambassador Eikenberry prior to that but the relationship is incredibly strained. The U.S. government has been very upset about a number of comments that President Karzi has made over the past couple of years, often does not seem to be in support of the U.S., trying to distance himself from the U.S. but the U.S. government and NATO are trying to maintain a relationship as they transition out.

Mullins: When the mention President Karzi of Afghanistan, the United States is not happy with the fact that he is not completely denounced these attacks. Does he have control? I mean if he did come out and denounce them is that going to stop them?

Wadhams: No, I think at this point I mean the emotions are so high that all of the apologies by the U.S., none of it seems to be helping but clearly there are a number of individuals in Afghanistan who have actually tried to feed some of this and exploit it for their own purposes.

Mullins: So right now the United States continues to have some presence in Afghanistan. The last of the troops will not be out until 2014. Is the U.S. making as far as you can tell any progress right now in Afghanistan?

Wadhams: I think we’re largely in a military stalemate at this point. Yes, there is some isolated gains on the battlefield but I would the overall trajectory is not moving in the right direction.

Mullins: Well, there are those you know who believe that right now is the time we should not only be removing advisers but all the remainder of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. I wonder what you feel about that because another side of this would be that doing it one the heels of these direct attacks on Americans would send the worst possible message that you lob grenades at Americans and it works; we’ll take off.

Wadhams: Yeah, I mean my sense is that the administration should keep to a draw down. I don’t think you want to do it in and accelerated manner at this point but largely because I believe that there’s got to be some kind of political settlement in Afghanistan if you’re gonna have a chance of long-term peace. And if you accelerate it and you don’t have a card at the negotiating table then there’s no chance for some kind of political settlement.

Mullins: The Obama administration has said when the United States is completely out of Afghanistan he hopes its leaving behind a relatively democratic government, one that would be secure enough to keep the country from again becoming a haven for al-Qaeda and other militants who threaten the West. Is that do you believe now an achievable goal?

Wadhams: It’s hard to imagine that by 2014 there’s going to be functioning democratic system in Afghanistan. I think that the hope is that you can have enough buy-in from enough of the different Afghan factions to maintain a government and to maintain a security force.

Mullins: Is there that cohort that wants a functioning government?

Wadhams: Yes, I think there are a multitude of factions who do want a functioning government. But what’s happened is that as we draw down, it’s not only that we’re just handing over security lead. There’s going to be a presidential election in 2014. President Karzi has said that he will step down as required by the constitution. It needs to happen, I think, but seeing who is the successor and how that person or that coalition of people can unite the country to sustain the government through the transition is going to be very, very difficult.

Mullins: Caroline Wadhams, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. She comments on Afghanistan and U.S. National Security issues. Nice to have you on the program.

Wadhams: Thank you.

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