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Afghanistan can have a bright future, but it has to start with political reconciliation.

By Ambassador Abdullah Abdulrahman Alim for The Diplomat

April 01, 2017

In early Marchfive Pakistani soldiers were killed in Taliban attacks on checkpoints along the border. The attacks followed a veritable massacre the previous week in the Afghan capital of Kabul, where near-simultaneous Taliban suicide bombings were followed by drawn-out shooting match Afghan security forces. The gruesome episode left at least 16 people dead and over 100 wounded.

This is the routine carnage wreaking havoc across Afghanistan. But after 15 years of war, it is clear that we need a new strategy, one that enfranchises all groups in Afghanistan with a view to build a truly viable and lasting democracy.

That was the theme of the meeting of the International Contact Group (ICG) for Afghanistan hosted by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the end of February shortly before the renewed outbreak of violence.

The OIC is the intergovernmental body comprised of 57 Muslim majority member-countries. We formed the ICG in 2009, under the auspices of Germany, to coordinate international efforts to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan.

At the last meeting, over 50 ICG member states and multilateral organisations came together to ratify a fundamental idea: that sustainable stability in Afghanistan can only be achieved through a political settlement between Afghans.

In September 2016, the national government of Afghanistan signed an unprecedented agreement with Hezb-e Islami, one of the countrys most prominent armed groups. Critics have pointed out that the agreement could allow the groups notorious leader, Gulbeddin Hekmatyar, to return to political life in the country.

This is an understandable reservation, but the critics overlook the alternative. Two years ago, Hekmatyar had announced Hezb-e Islamis support for the growing presence of DAESH militants in Afghanistan, with a view to combat the Taliban.

Afghanistan is already unstable. Such a prospect would have plunged the country even further into a heightened state of prolonged civil war between Hezbi-Islami, DAESH, the Taliban and the Afghan government.

But by signing the peace deal with Hezb-e Islami, the Afghan government managed to stave off this potentially catastrophic scenario.

It is just the beginning. At the previous ICG meeting in February we supported the efforts of the Afghan government to engage with all armed groups, including the Taliban, in a political process whose goal is the renunciation of violence and respect for the constitution. Only through such a political process can we begin rebuilding Afghanistan.

In that spirit of cooperation, the OIC will host an International Ulema Conference on Afghanistan later this year in an effort to unite Ieading Islamic clerics from the region behind a single, viable peace process for the country. And in November of this year, Turkmenistan will host the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) to explore opportunities for countries in the region to work together to revitalise the Afghan economy.

The RECCA agenda offers a meaningful vision of economic prosperity for Afghans. Among the issues on the table are agreements to create ground-breaking new institutions and mechanisms for trade: a new infrastructure to supply electricity to Afghanistan from Turkmenistan; the Lapis Lazuli trade corridor from Afghanistan through Turkmenistan, the Caucasus, Turkey and to Europe; the Chahabar trade and transit route that will allow Indian goods to reach Afghanistan via the Iranian port of Chahabar; a new rail connection with China; and the creation of a modern Silk Road through Afghanistan. This vision sees Afghanistan emerging as a trade, transit, energy and communications crossroads between Central, South and Southwest Asia.

That is the bright future that Afghans could see come to fruition if we work together to achieve political reconciliation.

February also saw the 28th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan. While the Taliban used the occasion to repeat its commitment to driving American forces out of the country, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani renewed the call for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban.

If the Taliban truly cares for the interests of Afghans, they would do well to take up this call. Because surely the most viable path to an independent and peaceful Afghanistan that is free of foreign forces, is not to keep fighting but for Afghans to come together, resolve their differences, and build the vibrant nation that has been denied them for too long.

Ambassador Abdullah Abdulrahman Alim previously served as Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Indonesia and Oman before joining the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the worlds second largest inter-governmental organisation, as Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs.

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Reconciliation is the Only Path to Peace in Afghanistan - The Diplomat

15 PHOTOS

Martial arts league distracts from war, poverty

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Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Fighters and team members prepare backstage before matches of a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

An Afghan fighter celebrates his victory during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

An Afghan athlete is checked before a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

An Afghan fighter in knockout in the ring during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

A fighter rests backstage before matches of a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan competitors fight during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

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KABUL, March 30 (Reuters) - In a custom-built arena in Kabul, crowds cheered as young Afghan men punched, kicked, and wrestled in the country's first professional mixed martial arts league, a welcome distraction to the violence besetting the country.

While cricket and football more commonly grab public attention in Afghanistan, fighters and fans see martial arts not just as entertainment but as a constructive pastime for youths in a country torn by war and economic malaise.

SEE ALSO: Gaza coach introduces baseball to Palestinian enclave

Against a soundtrack of booming music and shouts of encouragement, sweat and blood mixed inside the cage. Each match, however, ended in a hug.

"I think it provides a very good platform for the social frustrations that we have here in Afghanistan," said Kakal Noristani, who a year and a half ago helped found the Snow Leopard Fighting Championship.

To date, only men have competed in the handful of competitions, but organizers say they are training women fighters. The walls of the club feature posters of American martial arts competitor Ronda Rousey.

Noristani and his partners want to develop mixed martial arts as a professional sport in Afghanistan, hoping to host foreign fighters and send Afghan competitors abroad.

"We've just begun here in Afghanistan," Noristani said. "The professional structure was non-existent before this."

That's helped some fighters dream of national and international glory.

"This is the wish of every fighter: To reach the highest level and be able to fight abroad," said Mir Baba Nadery, who won his match that night.

Outside the cage, spectators expressed gratitude for a diversion from the country's woes.

"Coming to these kind of events takes your mind off of our problems," said Nadia Sina. "We are happy to see such an organization encouraging sportsmen and improving the sport in the country."

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In Afghanistan, martial arts league a distraction from war, poverty ... - AOL

The invasion was launched just four weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks which killed almost 3,000 people

PRINCE Charles tried to pause the American invasion of Afghanistan because of Ramadan, according to sensational new claims.

The Prince is said to have made the plea to the US ambassador to London four weeks into the offensive launched in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

PA:Press Association

The envoyis said to have responded Sir, are you really serious? after Charles made the intervention, seemingly without the knowledge of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The claims are made in a new biography of Charles by historian Sally Bedell Smithbeing serialised in the Daily Mail.

AP:Associated Press

She says Charles placed an urgent call to William Farish, Washingtons ambassador to London, asking if he would pass on the request to then-President George W. Bush.

When the ambassador told him it would be difficult to halt an ongoing invasion, he allegedly protested: But Americans can do anything!

Colonel Richard Kemp, who subsequently commanded British forces in Afghanistan, was quoted as saying the alleged request was absurd and shows a surprising lack of judgement.

The US and the UK launched Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7 2001, just four weeks after al-Qaedas devastating attacks which killed 2,996 people and injured more than 6,000.

Terrorists hijacked four planes, flying two into the twin towers of New Yorks famous World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon in Virginia.

Reuters

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A fourth plane was being steered towards Washington DC but crashed in a field after passengers tried to overcome the terrorists.

Ramadan the holy month in which Muslims endure a period of daily fasting began on November 16 2001.

Charless youngest son Prince Harry went on to serve in the war, spending two stints fighting on the frontline against the Taliban in 2008 and 2013.

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The book by Bedell Smith who has also written biographies of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth, the Clintons and the Kennedys also claims Charles tried to influence Margaret Thatcher back in 1985.

It claims that the pair clashed in 1985 over the princes fears that Tory policies would mean he would inherit the throne of a divided Britain.

The book says the Prime Minister was so incensed she called Buckingham Palace to complain, telling him: I run this country, not you, sir.

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Prince Charles 'tried to halt American invasion of Afghanistan because it was Ramadan', according to shock new claims - The Sun

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In this case, all personnel who were found to have been using or in possession of prohibited substances were removed from the contract and no longer work at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, a State Department official told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ)on condition of anonymity.

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Which drug or drugs the embassy personnel wereallegedly involved withremains unclear.

However, describing what appears to be a person under the influence of an opiate, the WSJreports,Embassy personnel said the investigation was launched after staff noticed one person wandering around in a state of confusion and appearing to be intoxicated.

BBC learned from unnamed Afghans who have worked at the embassy that the use of hashish by local and foreign staff is common.

Not all, but most of the employees fired from the embassy, a component of the U.S. State Department, were reportedly American.

It is unclear whether the employees will face any legal repercussions.

The embassy personnel who were fired included those working as contractors for the security company Aegis Worldwide, a subsidiary of GardaWorld, a person familiar with the investigation said. The Aegis website refers all media inquiries to GardaWorld, whose executives didnt respond to an emailed request for comment, notes WSJ. GardaWorld is one of the biggest security companies in Afghanistan and is based in Canada, according to its website.

The DEA has acknowledged that the vast majority of heroin in Canada originates in Afghanistan.

Since the war against terrorism began in Afghanistan more than 15 years ago in October 2015, the U.S. government has spent $8.5 billion in American taxpayer funds on counternarcotics effort.

Nonetheless, Afghanistan remains the worlds leading producer of opium, providing 80% of the global output over the past decade, according to the United Nations, reports the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a watchdog agency.

Moreover, estimated opium production in Afghanistan skyrocketed to 4,800 tons in 2015, 25 times more than when the United States invaded the country in 2001.

SIGAR reported in December 2014 that some U.S. taxpayer-funded reconstruction efforts, such as improved irrigation, roads, and agricultural assistance, were being used to cultivate opium in Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, the recent incident is not the first time that American personnel in Afghanistan has been caught using illegal drugs.

Two U.S. air-traffic controllers were found dead last year from what appeared to be heroin overdoses.

Furthermore, some U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan have been investigated on suspicion of using or distributing heroin, morphine or other opiates during 2010 and 2011, the Associated Press (AP) reported in 2012.

Breitbart News has analyzed Pentagon data that shows the number of U.S. service members testing positive for heroin has increased throughout the course of the war in Afghanistan.

Some analysts, such as scientist and author William Edstrom, deny the DEA claims that only about one percent of the heroin in the United States, where it is fueling one of the worst deadly drug epidemics in history, comes from the Afghanistan-Pakistan area.

Referring to the DEA claim that most of the heroin in the U.S. comes from Latin America, an article on the heroin surgenoted in September 2015:

Perhaps heroin shipments from Afghanistan are at lower risk of being seized than heroin coming from Latin America. Might some be entering through government channels, when so much materiel and so many personnel (soldiers, aid workers, diplomats, and contractors) fly directly between the US and Afghanistan?

Putting aside the issue of the provenance of the US heroin supply for the moment, surely we can look at heroin as we would any other global commodity.

Citing a September 2015 report from theWSJ, the article points out that U.S. friendly fire in top opium-producing southern Afghanistan hit a 30 member elite counternarcotics police unit as they were on a mission.

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US Embassy in Afghanistan Fires 6 for Allegedly Using, Dealing Drugs - Breitbart News

What would you do if your boss ordered you to teach a sheep to fly? Because I have the luxury of tenure, I like to think I would tell him or her that the task was impossible and politely suggest they seek medical attention. But if you were one of the commanders who have overseen the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan, force of habit and professional culture would nudge you toward saying can do and then designing a new campaign in ovine aeronautics.

Having accepted the assignment, each year youd deliver a sober, measured, but ultimately upbeat report on the progress youve been making. After acknowledging that no sheep had successfully flown, youd tell Congress, the president, and the public that several sheep had managed to jump several inches off the ground and that one particularly well-coached ewe had managed to fall with style when propelled off a slight incline. Even if the herds progress had reached a stalemate, youd say that completing the assignment was still possible but that it would of course require more time, more money, and a few thousand more troops.

There, in a nutshell, is the U.S. war in Afghanistan. What began in 2001 as a focused effort to topple the Taliban and rout al Qaeda has become an endless, costly, and unrealistic effort with no clearly discernible endpoint and little hope of success. It has become our forgotten war, and the chief aim of those in charge of the operation seems to be keeping it off the front pages and out of the public eye.

And make no mistake, it is a war. Afghan civilian casualties hit a new high in 2016, and government security forces suffered more than 15,000 casualties and more than 5,000 killed. According to the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the insurgency is controlling or contesting 149 of the countrys 402 districts. Fourteen U.S. soldiers died in Afghanistan last year, and the United States will spend roughly $5 billion training Afghan security forces in 2017, and billions of dollars more supporting its own combat operations, with no clear end in view.

How did we get here? A quick review: The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, when the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden and his associates following the 9/11 attacks. Working with the Afghan Northern Alliance, U.S. special operations forces and intelligence operatives soon routed the Taliban and drove them from Kabul. Command errors allowed bin Laden to escape into Pakistan, however, where he remained in hiding until he was killed by a U.S. raid in May 2011. Similarly, the Taliban went to ground inside Pashtun areas or across the border in Pakistan, where they enjoyed tacit (and, in some cases, active) support from Pakistani intelligence agencies.

Working with its European allies and other regional powers, the United States proceeded to set up a post-Taliban Afghan government under Hamid Karzai. The new Afghan Constitution envisioned a centralized, Western-style democracy, even though Afghanistan was a poor, semi-literate, corrupt, and deeply divided society with a long tradition of local autonomy. This entire program was a long-shot effort from the start, but any hope of success dissolved when the George W. Bush administration turned its back on the country in order to invade Iraq in 2003. By the end of Bushs tenure, the Taliban had regrouped and were regaining control in many parts of the country, aided in part by the corruption and ineffectiveness of the central government in Kabul.

The deteriorating situation led newly elected President Barack Obama to dispatch additional U.S. troops in the spring of 2009, and he later authorized a larger surge of U.S. forces in the fall of that year. He claimed this step was necessary to prevent al Qaeda from regaining a safe haven in Afghanistan (ignoring the fact that al Qaeda already had better havens elsewhere), and he promised the surge would turn the tide and allow the United States to withdraw completely in a few years. This overall strategy made little sense, however, and setting a deadline for a U.S. withdrawal just gave the Taliban ample incentive to wait us out. The Afghan government remained divided, corrupt, and ineffective, and the vast sums spent to train the Afghan National Security Forces over many years failed to produce an effective fighting force. Instead of achieving victory and withdrawing U.S. forces, Obama ended his presidency by authorizing nearly 9,000 U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan indefinitely.

What do we have to show for all this effort and the many sacrifices made by U.S. and NATO soldiers? Not much. The Taliban now control more territory than at any time since the U.S. invasion in 2001, and the New York Times reports that the Taliban recently captured the Sangin district in Helmand, a bitterly contested area where more British and U.S. troops died than any other district. Not surprisingly, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, is asking for additional reinforcements. The purpose, it is said, is to improve training of the Afghan security forces so that someday the United States can really and truly end its involvement there. Never mind that we have already spent more than $65 billion on training in the past (along with nearly $120 billion in reconstruction efforts and nearly a trillion dollars in actual war costs). Yet the Afghan units that have received all this largesse still cannot manage to contain their Taliban foes. In short, we have been trying to teach sheep to fly. Yet with a bit more time and effort, we are told, the problems will be solved, and our woolly friends will soar.

Donald Trump has said very little about Afghanistan, so we dont know how he intends to deal with this particular problem. But the tea leaves are not encouraging. On the one hand, Trump has been critical of nation-building in the past and might be inclined to cut U.S. losses and get out. But on the other hand, hes fixated on winning and wont want to enter the history books as the president who let the Taliban best him.

Trump has also staffed his administration with a lot of senior military officers including Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and he seems inclined to delegate more authority over military operations to the military itself. That approach might make sense (and it does give him someone to blame if things go wrong), except that theres no reason to think any of the generals know how to win this one either. Remember: It was generals like Stanley McChrystal who urged Obama to escalate the war in 2009, to little avail.

Contrary to what some on the left believe, the U.S. military is not inherently bellicose (indeed, it is often less war-prone than some civilians). But it doesnt like to lose and doesnt even like fighting to a draw. As long as the president and Congress will go along, in short, the military will continue to kick the can down the road, even if this does not alter the strategic situation in the slightest and continues to distract and divert the country from more pressing tasks.

The second worrisome feature is Trumps disregard for diplomacy. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is an amateur diplomat who apparently supports Trumps proposal to cut the State Departments budget by nearly 30 percent, and his initial forays into foreign policy suggest he still has a lot to learn.

Indifference to diplomacy is a problem here because the only long-term solution to the Afghan morass is a broad political settlement that reconciles the competing factions within Afghanistan and gets the outside powers that have been interfering there to play more constructive roles. For example, nearly everyone agrees that a central problem is the Talibans ability to use Pakistani territory as a sanctuary (not to mention the support they get from Pakistani intelligence), which in turn means success requires persuading Islamabad to change its policies. That may not be possible, but it is ultimately a diplomatic challenge rather than a military one. The bottom line: If training Afghan security forces and killing Taliban leaders with drone strikes could solve this problem, our past efforts would have achieved a lot more by now. Without a robust, sophisticated, and knowledgeable diplomatic effort, long-term success will remain elusive.

Which brings me to National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster. Not only does McMaster have personal experience in Afghanistan (where he ran U.S. anti-corruption efforts), but he is also the author of Dereliction of Duty, a famous study of the U.S. militarys failure to give its civilian overseers accurate and honest advice during the Vietnam War. McMaster has offered upbeat bromides about Afghanistan in the past, but that was then and this is now. The question is: At this point, does he appreciate the difficulty indeed, the futility of what we keep trying to do in Afghanistan and the impossibility of trying to teach sheep to fly? And if he has figured this out, will he tell the president?

Photo credit:SCOTT OLSON/Getty Images

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'Mission Accomplished' Will Never Come in Afghanistan - Foreign Policy (blog)