Ambassador William B. Wood Interview with Ariana TV Kabul, Afghanistan
Ambassador William B. Wood
Interview with Ariana TV
Kabul, Afghanistan
March 23, 2009
Question: Thank you very much that you give us opportunity to talk with you.
Ambassador Wood: I am delighted to be here with Ariana, and I wish to say to everyone Nowroz mubarak.
Question: Thank you very much.
The first question, I need your opinion about the political issues at the moment in Afghanistan.
Ambassador Wood: I’m delighted to respond, but what precisely did you ask?
Question: What are your views about the current political situation in Afghanistan?
Ambassador Wood: Well, I think 2009 or 1388 is a very interesting year. It is, of course, an election year. Election years produce lots of political activity, lots of governmental activity and I think that we’re seeing all of that going on. I think that it’s being a very positive year. I think that the Afghan people have demonstrated their commitment to democracy and to governance by turning out in such large numbers to register to vote. As you know, that was twice the number of new registrants estimated.
I think the goal now is to ensure that the leaders, the candidates, both from the government side and from the opposition side, are worthy of the dedication and courage that the Afghan voters have already shown.
Question: Some analysts in Kabul have said that 2008 was not a good year for Afghanistan in terms of the security. As you mentioned, the voter registration process hasn’t been done, hasn’t been completed yet. Do you not think that because of problems in voter registration and political situation of the country the credibility of the upcoming elections will be undermined?
Ambassador Wood: I have complete confidence that the Afghan elections can be held in a free, fair and secure manner that provide equal opportunity for all candidates, that provide all candidates the opportunity to make their positions known to the Afghan voters, and that will allow the Afghan voters to vote in an honest and honorable way with a secret ballot and with a fair vote count.
I think that the Afghan elections are going to be a great success thanks primarily to the courage of the Afghan voters themselves.
Question: Now that some candidates unofficially have started their campaign, talks by high ranking government officials and analysts suggest that instead of elections, a Loya Jirga may be held this year. These are two different things. What do you think about these? In your opinion, which is more important for Afghanistan, holding elections or Loya Jirga?
Ambassador Wood: We have heard discussions of the possibility of a Loya Jirga. That is obviously a decision for the Afghans to make. We don’t see any reason for one. We think that there is agreement on the elections date. We think that the government, as provided by the constitution, can be in power through the elections until the next inauguration. We think it’s very important that the government be in a position to protect the voters and to protect the elections. And we also think the Afghan leaders, both the government and the opposition side, will come together to reach that conclusion.
Question: Now to the second part of the question.
The security situation in Afghanistan has been rapidly changing and deteriorating. Everyday there are reports of explosions and attacks. This happens despite the presence of coalition forces, especially the U.S. forces. Is it because of the weakness of the coalition forces, international community, or Afghan government?
Ambassador Wood: It sounds like a contradiction but I believe that the security situation is deteriorating because of the weakness of the Taliban and their own weak strategy.
The national security of Afghanistan is stronger than ever before. No one is afraid that the Taliban will take over a major city or a major province, as they were a few years ago. But because the Taliban is choosing the weakest targets -- civilians, individual citizens, with bombs, with suicide attacks, the people are more afraid even though the national government and the institutions of the country are more secure. This produces an apparent contradiction. The government seems stronger, the government seems more capable, but the people are more afraid. That is why the government and the international community are trying to work together to provide better police, better community defense and a stronger army so that the people receive the benefits, feel the benefits of improved security in the country.
It is not that the Taliban is so strong. They can’t take ground. They can’t hold territory. All they can do is attack innocent, helpless people, and we must all unite to stop that from occurring.
Question: In the current situations of Afghanistan, what role the United States can play to provide security in the region and Afghanistan?
Ambassador Wood: The United States has two basic goals in the security area. The first one is to assist the Afghan security forces to develop so that they can protect Afghanistan, the nation of Afghanistan and the communities inside of Afghanistan. The second goal is to protect Afghanistan while the Afghan security forces are developing to the point that they can achieve that goal.
So we think about our security mission here as one in which we hold ground and protect the Afghan people while the Afghan security forces are developing so that they can do it.
Question: Everyday there are reports of civilian casualties, and house searching by coalition forces. This is not only in the media, but the Afghan government has also condemned civilian casualties. What do you think about these?
Ambassador Wood: Civilian casualties are a tragedy whenever they occur. The United States and the coalition has been straightforward in admitting when we think we have made a mistake, in investigating in a straightforward way and in trying to do our best to minimize civilian casualties. We are here to protect the citizens of Afghanistan, not to hurt them. This is in contrast to the Taliban which is directly attacking civilians.
Of course the problem with home-made bombs is that they are made in homes. That means that to reduce the threat of home-made bombs, which is the single largest source of casualties caused by the Taliban, homes sometimes have to be attacked. The solution to this problem is to train and equip the Afghan security forces so that they can address this problem directly and the internationals don’t have to. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re moving in that direction.
Question: Civilian casualties, it seems that have undermined the relationship between the Afghan government and the coalition forces [inaudible] United States. As the US Ambassador in Afghanistan, what is your opinion about this?
Ambassador Wood: I think that the Afghan government is completely right to be concerned about the welfare of the citizens of Afghanistan. I assure you and I assure the government that we are equally concerned about the safety and the happiness of the citizens of Afghanistan. When there is a civilian casualty it is a defeat for all of us -- for the coalition and for the government. We are not here to hurt Afghan citizens and we regret any innocent life that is lost in any operation whether we’re involved or not.
I think that we have worked constructively with the Afghanistan government, with President Karzai and with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior to find further protections for Afghan citizens. But as I said earlier, the key is to help the Afghan security forces develop capacity so that they can conduct the necessary operations to combat the infiltration and terrorism of the Taliban.
I should also say that communities in Afghanistan also have a responsibility. When they know that someone in their neighborhood is doing something wrong they should cooperate with the Afghan government to eliminate that threat before it becomes so serious that the coalition has to take action.
Question: There have been talks in the American media, Afghan media and international media about new strategy of the United States to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and the region. What do you think of the new strategy and how this strategy can be implemented?
A second question is, it seems that there is a difference between the doctrine of President Bush and President Obama. What are your comments?
Ambassador Wood: As you know, the Obama administration has been conducting an intensive review of our policy toward Afghanistan and is almost finished with that review. I don’t want to announce prematurely the results of that review, but I think that some things are very clear.
First, Afghanistan will remain among the highest of all foreign policy priorities for the United States. Our policy will be a policy in support of Afghanistan against terrorism, against illicit narcotics, against criminality. Our policy will be one in support of democracy, institutional growth, development, and security for the people.
We will be viewing Afghanistan in a regional context which will include Pakistan, which also faces a similar threat from many of the same terrorists that attack Afghanistan.
I think that we will continue to provide direct security support to Afghanistan. President Obama has already authorized the deployment of an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, primarily in the south, to assist in the protection of the Afghan people there. He is also calling for accelerated training and equipping of the Afghan security forces so that the Afghan army and the Afghan police can do more to protect Afghanistan and move faster to play a larger and larger role in that job.
I think he’s also been clear that he, President Obama and the Obama administration have also been clear that they want to continue and accelerate our efforts to help the Afghan economy develop so that the lives of Afghans will be improved and so that they can see the benefits of increased security and stronger governance.
We will work with the Afghan government to achieve all of these goals. I think the details still have to be worked out, but I think that the Afghan people can count on a constructive, cooperative, expanded US presence here for some time to come.
Question: Recently there have been reports in the U.S. media saying that Afghanistan is a background country and is not ready to embrace democracy? What do you think about this? How do you see such comments?
Ambassador Wood: I think that these comments may have been misinterpreted. I think that the comments we’ve seen in the media have been meant to indicate that after so many years of difficulty -- the Soviet invasion, the civil war, the Taliban -- that Afghanistan is more tired, the people are more tired than we had hoped, and that therefore the job may be longer and the task more difficult than people had hoped in 2001 or 2002. That doesn’t mean that the goal has changed at all.
Again, I think we can look at the Afghan people’s participation in voter registration. Clearly the Afghan people want the institutions of democracy. Clearly they are prepared to risk danger and endure hardship in order to achieve that goal. We certainly are committed to helping them.
Question: The last question, I’d like to ask you about the specific security situation and how stability and peace can be brought to Afghanistan. In your opinion, when peace can be sustained in Afghanistan?
Ambassador Wood: Unfortunately it is too difficult a question for me to give you a specific date or a specific timeframe. I can only say that I think that this is achievable in a matter of a few years. I think that the Afghan army is showing very impressive growth and capability. I think that the Afghan police are getting stronger and more focused on the mission under the very dynamic leadership of Minister Atmar. I think that this year will be a complicated year because of the additional security requirements imposed by the elections, but I also think we’ll see it’s going to be a good year.
We are committed to what I believe the people of Afghanistan want, which is an Afghanistan that is strong, that is developing, that is secure, and that is in charge of its own future. And that’s what we’re working for. I believe we can attain this in a few years.
Question: Thank you very much.