Rebuilding Afghan state key to British role in country

Jul 14 2008 Agenda

British forces have been in Afghanistan for seven years but there is still long way to go if the war-ravaged nation is to be rebuilt. Andrew Mitchell, the shadow International Development Secretary and Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield, reflects on his recent visit to the country.

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Just a few weeks ago I stood in front of a memorial to the British dead at the Camp Bastion military base in Helmand province, Afghanistan. On a brass plaque I read the names of the 97 British soldiers who had died there since the toppling of the Taliban in 2001. Today, as I write this article, 13 names have been added to that plaque, bringing the total to 110.

I also visited the military hospital at Camp Bastion. Most of the patients I saw there were Afghan civilians, including children who had been injured in terrorist attacks. I saw a mechanic who had been blinded when an improvised explosive device blew up outside his workshop. His bandaged face and the worried looks on the faces of his family who clustered by his bedside were a chilling reminder of the devastating impact of these attacks.

The British toll - and the even greater number of ordinary Afghans who have been killed or wounded - prompts us to ask: What are we doing in Afghanistan? What is our goal? Are we winning? It was these questions I went to answer. I also went to focus on the work of the British Department for International Development, which is charged with helping to build governance from the bottom up and create stability in the areas that the Afghan government and international forces control.

During my visit, I met President Karzai as well as senior members of his government, including the ministers responsible for education, finance and agriculture. I also met the major aid donors, and the United Nations and the World Bank.

We flew to Lashkar Gah and met the new governor of Helmand, Governor Mangal, who is rightly held in high regard, and who has survived a number of assassination attempts. I also met the directors of various ministries in Helmand. The picture they painted was not optimistic: it was reported that schools in many areas of Helmand are being shut down due to insecurity. We visited British-funded development projects around Lashkar Gah, the counter-narcotics police, and a rehabilitation centre for Afghan opium addicts. Back in Kabul, I met leading female Members of Parliament and NGOs working on women's empowerment issues. I was deeply impressed by the courage and professionalism of our armed forces. Their bravery and valour in battle is unsurpassed. But the military clearly understand that the ultimate solution to the situation in Helmand and Afghanistan can only be political, not military. They know that what counts is winning the hearts and minds of the local population - not simply winning firefights with Taliban militants.

I was also impressed by the British civilian staff in Afghanistan, including the dedicated and knowledgeable team at the DFID offices, who are working incredibly hard in unusual, testing conditions. We are fortunate to have such an able team from the Foreign Office, led by the outstanding Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles. And we should not forget the locally engaged Afghan staff, including translators and support workers, who work for the British Government. These people often run risks in doing their work and we in Britain have a duty to offer them the maximum possible protection.

So what did I conclude from my visit?

Real progress has been made since the removal of the Taliban in 2001. The vast majority of Afghan people live in areas which are relatively stable. Health and education indicators today are much stronger than under the Taliban.

But many Afghans I spoke to are disappointed and disillusioned: the security situation is precarious; corruption and crime are rife; the global food crisis will hit people hard. The government of Afghanistan and the international community must make a concerted effort to put things right.

We should start by improving the effectiveness of aid to Afghanistan. The twin challenges here are donor coordination and Government capacity. There is a marked lack of effective coordination between donors. The Paris Conference last month generated substantial extra cash - the challenge is to ensure that it is spent effectively. Building the capacity of the Afghan state is absolutely vital. I found that some elements of the central government, such as the army and the rural affairs ministry, are making real and sustained progress.

But others such as the police and the Ministry of the Interior are beset by problems. In many parts of the country the government of Afghanistan is unable to exert influence, and at a local level its institutions are often weak. We need a concerted effort to bolster and reform Government structures. Building a system of justice - bringing the drug barons and other evil people to account to the Afghans themselves for their crimes - is an important part of state-building.

Afghanistan is the ground where multiple and complex regional and international interests are being played out. Pakistan , Iran , India and Russia are all heavily involved. We must ensure that full diplomatic energy is put into addressing the role of Afghanistan's neighbours in the conflict, and into driving forward the long term process of stabilisation and state-building. Too often, neighboring countries, while believing that the international community must not fail in Afghanistan , do not themselves do enough to help promote security and stability.

We are in Afghanistan not as occupiers but at the invitation of the democratically-elected Afghan Government. No country wants to have foreign troops on its soil unless absolutely necessary, and our aim must clearly be to build the capacity of the Afghan state to uphold its own security and deliver development. Britain is right to focus most of its aid on this. And progress is being made. But it will take time, and we must acknowledge that Afghanistan will need international assistance for many, many years to come.

An international pull-out would plunge it back into civil war and chaos, and offer an incubator and training ground for terrorists. So we cannot turn our backs on Afghanistan. But equally, we must be candid and admit that the international effort there is facing real problems. Tackling them, and helping to rebuild this battered and bruised country, is one of the key challenges of our generation.

Above all, we must explain to those who are unclear or doubtful, why we are committed to helping Afghanistan, why we will be engaged there for many years to come, and why we are right to shoulder this responsibility.