He Didn't Want to Go Home!
Dr. G. Rauf Roashan
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai concluded an important trip to the
Untied States and returned home to, in the words of President George
Bush of the United States, "go to work."
And there is much work for him to do back home than to visit abroad.
His trip was very important indeed. Perhaps it was more important to
President Bush than to Karzai or Afghanistan. He had to be good news
for Bush among many bad ones that he has been receiving constantly of
late. At least he could bank on the so-called success of the Afghan
case.
One of the significant appearances he made in the United States was
at the Capitol where he got a chance to address a joint session of the
United States Congress on June 15, 2004. Afghan watchers and friends
as well as those interested in the foreign policy standing of the United
States listened carefully to what he had to say. And what he had to
say to the American people through their congress was sweet words of
thanks. Rather than a political address in one of the most important
chambers of the world, he presented his audience with a list of thanks
for the work supposedly he has accomplished in Afghanistan. He thanked
America for the children who are at school in Afghanistan, he thanked
America for the women activists who are registering women in remote
provinces of Afghanistan to vote, he thanked America for the fledgling
national army that is being trained in Afghanistan, he thanked America
for giving him a chance to see that a new constitution is promulgated
in the country and that men and women in his country have equal rights.
He came short of thanking the United States to provide his person a
chance to ascend to the seat of power in that country. He further talked
about refugees returning home and said that was a sign of the peoples'
confidence in the security in his country. He said his administration
has started the process of reconstruction and named road construction
projects. He failed to state that except the Kabul Kandahar road there
is much left to be done regarding roads and highways in his country.
And of course he mentioned some of the problems facing his administration.
Among these he referred to drugs. Unfortunately he did not have much
in the way of achievement in this hard and difficult struggle to share.
And he unfortunately did not have much in the way of plans and remedies
to offer. He said he needed international help to carry on the fight
against this scourge. He then referred to some common knowledge facts
such as the infant and maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan being
among the highest in the world. Access only of some 6 % of the population
to electricity and lack of sufficient irrigational systems for the farmers
was called other problems. He considered lack of refrigerated carriers
to export what he called "our delicious fruits." He applauded
the sacrifice of the American soldiers in securing his country from
terrorists. In an anecdote, he even excused collateral damage inflicted
by the US military on Afghan civilian lives, suggesting that in war
things like this do happen. And after some political rhetoric all embracing
the notion of his thankfulness to the United States he concluded his
speech with what would be pleasing to any American politician by saying:
"Ladies and gentlemen, together we have a long road ahead, but
we will move forward to make the world a better place. And for us in
Afghanistan, we remember you for every help that you have given us.
And we will have that in our books written in golden letters. In this
road, the journey is one of success and victory."
What he did not dwell upon much in his speech was the issue of resurgence
of Taleban and extremist movements, worsening security in Afghanistan
so much so that it may endanger the upcoming elections, the problem
of low voter registration and the issue of the need to provide security
during the elections, and the issue of the need for starting in earnest
the process of reconstruction. He did not mention the huge problem the
United Nations and other international aid agencies have regarding security
needed for the smooth operation. He did not mention the difficulty of
disarming the militias and the huge problem of the warlords. He did
not mention his government's efforts to appease warlords and to open
up venues for participation of those elements of Taleban that he considers
good people whose hands are not smeared with blood. He did not mention
the expanding corruption in government offices and therefore did not
get a chance to elaborate on a cure for this social disease.
But overall this time over, he was received with respect and dignity
and compared to his last visit when he was offered a seat on the hearing
chair of the house, his reception this time at the Capitol as the head
of a government was at par with appropriate protocol.
But perhaps also the President of the United States received him more
warmly. He was received at the White House. In the Rose Garden, President
Karzai appreciative of the warm reception as reported by Reuters said:
"It's been nice visiting the United States again. One likes to
stay here and no go, its such a good country." President Bush was
cool to the suggestion and jokingly told the Afghan leader: "Get
home and get to work, will you?" And President Karzai is reported
to have said rather obediently, "Thank you, yes."
Analysts see and read a lot between the lines in this simple exchange
and let us hope President Karzai's opponents in the upcoming elections
do not hear of it.
But Karzai is direly needed back home. It is true that the US administration
needed him here and that during his stay he got a chance to talk to
the G 8 Summit, and held a number of interviews which threw further
light on him as an aspiring politician, but in Afghanistan there are
so much awaiting to be tackled in the way of nation building, reconstruction,
reparation and or building anew of a solid infrastructure, introducing
and maintaining of an effective administrative system and above all
coordinating all efforts, national and international, for making democracy
a reality in the war torn country. Although he oversold his achievements,
yet he was also put to the scrutiny of the journalists who asked him
pointed questions about his country. While politicians get away with
soft answers to hard question, but they carry these questions with them
and perhaps once in a while the questions resurface in their own minds
and make them find a true down-to-earth answer to a true down-to-earth
issue. 6/19/04
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