Thanks to a kind offer from SACEUR, I was able to join his party on a visit to Afghanistan from 22-24 September. Two senior representatives of the German Atlantische Brücke were also present.
As part of the programme, the group visited Herat and Farah in the West of Afghanistan. But as I’d visited both cities when the NATO Council was last in Afghanistan in February, I stayed behind in Kabul to make some calls organised by my colleagues in the British Embassy.
It was an interesting time to be in Afghanistan, and a good chance to take the temperature after an absence of over six months.
The NATO Heads of State Summit held in Bucharest in April helped pull together the international effort over Afghanistan. Since then, ISAF has been significantly enhanced in terms of troop numbers and other capabilities. But the insurgents have been active too. An increased emphasis on asymmetric terrorist attacks has increased uncertainty among the Afghan population. Taliban activity around e.g. the Afghanistan ring road has increased the difficulty of movement around the country. And there have been a number of incidents involving serious casualties, both among the civilian population, and the international forces operating in support of the government.
The most commonly heard Afghan view is that security is not improving. That perception is worrying. But, while no one would deny that the security situation is disturbing, there is no real prospect of the insurgents prevailing militarily and ISAF successes are being made.
Afghan National Army soldiers now take part in or lead over half the operations in which NATO is involved and perform very creditably. In the capital , the Government of Afghanistan has taken over from ISAF responsibility for the security of the city. In the south, the move of a new turbine to the Kajaki Dam demonstrated NATO’s determination to support Afghanistan’s development.
None of this suggests anyone should take security lightly, as an IED incident in Kabul on the day of our departure showed. But we are certainly not seeing the precipitate decline that some reports suggest.
A further disturbing development that has become even clearer over the last six months is the extent of the links between drug traffickers and the insurgency. Drug money not only bankrolls the Taleban, but the narcotics trade breeds corruption and undermines Afghan society. It impedes good governance together with the reforms all agree are essential to the future success of Afghanistan.
SACEUR has recommended a change to the ISAF Oplan that will allow NATO to be more effective in supporting action against drug laboratories and trafficking. It is targeted not against ordinary Afghans but at those directly implicated in the trade. In Kabul I had the opportunity to talk to UNAMA, and some of the Counter-Narcotics professionals and military Commanders involved. All emphasised how important SACEUR’s proposed changes were, and the need for early action to implement them. As SACEUR has said, this is the best measure we can give our forces for the best opportunity to come home safe and sound.
While in Kabul I also called on the Combined Training Advisory Group. This is a Coalition (rather than a NATO) organisation that works with the Afghan National Army on Training and Doctrine. The UK makes a significant contribution. The training systems now in place should be able to cope with the increase of some 50,000 Afghan soldiers agreed by the Afghan Government and international community earlier in September.
I was also able to visit an Afghan training area near Kabul in which British instructors are involved, and to see an officer training course return from a hot and exhausting patrol.
Finally, I visited the new Afghan Government media centre sponsored by the UK, US and Canada, with internet service provided by NATO, and met its enthusiastic new Director Waheed Omer. The facilities are first-rate and the centre should provide an important platform for the Afghan Government to get its views across. It should also help build understanding between them and the various international organisations involved in Afghanistan, as well as encourage the Afghan media. This can only be a good thing if it helps the real and coherent story to be told.
