TRANSCRIPT
Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry Press Conference May 16, 2009 Kunar Province, Afghanistan
QUESTION: What’s your plan to resolve the problems?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: I’ve been in Afghanistan now for five days. I arrived here with my wife just five days ago. I’m coming to Kunar Province here – it’s my first trip outside of Kabul and I came here to listen and to see. I’ve heard from the people that there seems to have been a lot of progress made in the areas of having more peace, more justice, more prosperity. But I’ve also heard from the people that there are concerns about the coordination of our NATO forces, U.S. forces here, and the Afghan National Security Forces, the Army and the Police.
Let me say that we are fully committed to finding ways to better exchange information. We are fully committed to ensure that the operations that are conducted – joint operations that are conducted – are conducted in accordance with the culture and the respect for the people of Afghanistan. But we know that also we’re fighting against some very brutal militant terrorists who hope to take peace, prosperity and justice away from the Afghan people.
So really I think the most important, I believe, from the United States view – I think here I can speak of the NATO approach, and I know especially for the government of Afghanistan, for the people of Afghanistan, most important is helping find ways to more faster, more effectively develop your own police forces, develop your own Afghan National Army, help you find ways to provide security for your own communities, and then this problem will not exist.
QUESTION: Currently the international community and the Afghan Parliament is trying to [inaudible]. In the meantime, we have more of these troops coming to fight [inaudible]. Is it going to affect the peace process? And the next question is, is there too much going on in Pakistan and it’s getting worse? What if the Pakistan government fails? What can the U.S. government do about it?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: NATO, and the United States within NATO, does have many more soldiers coming to your country over the course of the summer and the fall. But I want to be clear that this is only one part of a much broader strategy in partnership with your country, in support of your country. Security is – in some parts of Afghanistan has gotten worse over the last several years, although in Kunar I would say it’s gotten better. But the additional NATO forces that are coming to Afghanistan, yes, they’re going to be working to help protect the Afghan people in places which have become much more dangerous, much more vulnerable to militant extremist terrorists, and most importantly, they’re going to be working hard to accelerate the growth and the competency of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. But this gets back to what I had said earlier, what the Governor told me in my meetings, what the Minister of Communications told me when we flew here today, that what the Afghan people aspire for the most, what they want the most, they want to be able to secure their own country. They don’t want to have people that come here that have to help them secure their own country.
So when you look at those additional military forces from all countries of NATO and partners that are coming here, that’s the principal objective. Help secure your people by helping the Afghan National Army and helping the Afghan National Police. But a big part of the strategy, maybe even a bigger part of the new strategy, is not only about security, but it gets to the question of your people’s desire for justice and for prosperity. We have many more technical assistants coming here, some of whom you’ll see in Kunar Province. Our objective is very much in support of your government, in support of your people, to help with programs that can improve justice, to improve especially the prosperity of your people.
The question you asked about Pakistan, I know in Kunar this is a very important question. The Governor emphasized to me in my meeting with him that Kunar has a border with Pakistan of 240 kilometers. He mentioned to me that he thinks much more assistance is needed for the Afghan Border Police to help secure the borders of Afghanistan. He said that the people who come here and blow up bombs, blow up buildings, kill civilians, that almost all of them come from outside of Kunar.
So the question of insecurity in Afghanistan and the relationship to Pakistan, that’s something that I understand is of critical concern to the people of Kunar. It’s of concern to the people of Afghanistan. It’s also a concern to the people of Pakistan and to the international community. It’s a very serious problem.
I know the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent months have renewed their commitment towards finding ways to cooperate in areas of security, cooperate in terms of improving the mutual economic trade and commerce between the two countries. Some of those efforts have been facilitated by the United States and they show signs of promise.
At the same time, I know that NATO and the United States very specifically, we’re committed to helping the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police to develop the capabilities and the capacity to effectively deal with this threat.
We all know that, again, the Afghan people want peace. And we know that unless there’s a cooperative solution between Afghanistan and Pakistan it will be very difficult for the people of Afghanistan or the people of Pakistan to have peace.
QUESTION: About the [inaudible] dam. [Inaudible] came here, and you also came. Are you planning to build this dam?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: The Governor, when we had a long meeting this morning, he talked about the dam project. The project – as the Governor said, this project would be very very expensive. I have not heard of the project, but the Governor said, he talked about the project, $1.7 billion U.S. dollars.
There are many urgent requirements throughout Afghanistan. There are many high priority projects right now and needs here in Kunar Province. So it’s useful to always be realistic, to be pragmatic, and to move forward one step at a time.
I came here, as I said, two years ago was the last time I was here. The last time I was here we were talking about one road. Today, two years later, we’re talking about seven roads. The last time I was here we were talking about one bridge, and now we’re talking about seven bridges. The last time I was here we were talking about several schools. Now we’re talking about 60 schools. The last time I was here we were talking about a few health clinics. Now we’re talking about 84 health clinics.
There are only so many resources that are available. We have to be smart in how we use those resources. In cooperation with the Afghan people, in cooperation with the Afghan government, let’s be smart but let’s be practical, let’s be realistic. Let’s build day by day for our children. Let’s build day by day for our grandchildren.
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