Ambassador Karl Eikenberry
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan
Interview - VOA/Pajhwok
October 25, 2009
VOA: First we want to welcome you to Voice of America.
Ambassador Eikenberry: Sideq, it’s good to have you here in my residence at the U.S. Embassy, and it’s always wonderful to be with Voice of America Television and Radio.
VOA: Thank you, sir.
What can you share with us about the consultation you had on Thursday with the White House? And did that include the IEC [International Election Commission]?
Ambassador Eikenberry: Well, Sideq, regarding the video teleconference that I had with the President of the United States, first I’d say, of course, that the nature of the dialogue is something which is confidential. But let me make several points.
First of all, the President absolutely reaffirmed his support and that of his administration and the United States government, to continue forward with the process of the election. As he had said separately in a phone call to President Karzai and in a statement from the White House, he reaffirmed that he thought that President Karzai had shown great courage in moving forward with the decision to continue with the second round.
He also, as you know, had an opportunity to speak both to President Karzai and to Dr. Abdullah and to congratulate them on the campaigns that they’ve won, to wish them good luck in the next several weeks.
He also had an opportunity to express his appreciation and thanks to the United States Embassy -- which for our embassy, of course, is a matter of great pride.
The final point I’d make, Sideq, about this discussion, is that this is part of an ongoing review with the administration of the implementation of our strategy in Afghanistan and these kinds of dialogues with the President of the United States, with General McChrystal, with myself, within the administration -- this really reaffirms the commitment of our country to the success of Afghanistan.
VOA: Thank you.
According to President Obama’s spokesperson, the discussions were aimed at fixing what went wrong in the August election. Where do you begin with the fixing and can it all be fixed?
Ambassador Eikenberry: There were many challenges, Sideq, with the election. First of all, let’s be clear that the whole process of planning the election didn’t begin soon enough and it was really the responsibility of the international community, indeed of the United States, of all of us including the Afghan government; we didn’t begin the preparations soon enough and adequately enough. There were tremendous problems with security, there were challenges with logistics, and of course there were problems with irregularities in the voting.
So I think some good lessons have been learned here over the last several months, and I know that between the security forces, your Ministry of Defense, your Ministry of Interior, NATO ISAF working hard on the security aspects, the United Nations working with the IEC and the ECC [Electoral Complaint Commission] in terms of the actual execution of the election itself, and then working on the various logistics challenges that we’re facing, we’re being very realistic about the obstacles, the challenges we face. Hopefully, we’ll be able to learn lessons from some of the shortcomings that we experienced over the last several months, setting the stage for more success on the 7th of November.
VOA: For the August 20 election, they prepared a great deal for the election and they weren’t very successful. How can they, in less time, be successful in holding this round of the election?
Ambassador Eikenberry: I would say, Sideq, before we say “not very successful,” look at the extraordinary conditions that the election on the 20th of August was held under. As I said, it was very difficult to prepare. We probably began intensive preparations a little bit too late, but against that, the security forces -- your security forces, NATO ISAF -- I thought they did an extraordinary job, but there were still areas of insecurity. Again, lessons learned. This was the first time that Afghanistan has led its own election. This was conducted at a time when, in the East and the South, the Southwest, and parts of Northern Afghanistan there was insecurity. Against all odds, many Afghans then turned out to vote. Courageous Afghan citizens turned out to vote.
So what we need to do is look hard at where the shortcomings were in this first round, to see if we can learn lessons. We’re going all-out, and I want to emphasize we -- the international community, NATO ISAF, the United Nations, the United States of America -- we are going all out to try to be flexible, be adaptable and be supportive so that the electoral institutions of Afghanistan can have more positive results in the second round; a lot of it will then be up to the Afghan citizens and their willingness to get out and make this second round a success.
VOA: Thank you.
What can you tell us about the role of Senator John Kerry in getting President Karzai to accept the results of the ECC and agree to a runoff election?
Ambassador Eikenberry: Two points, Sideq. First of all, as the Ambassador here I’ll never talk about any kind of private diplomatic conversations that take place between the leaders of your country and my government -- or myself, for that matter.
Secondly, let me emphasize that this was a decision, of course, that President Karzai reached himself. A difficult decision. President Karzai has a group of supporters that were with him in the first round of this election, so he had to address those supporters. Against that, there were then the needs of the state and the concerns for the long-term health of democracy in your country. It’s a decision he made, and I would not like to have been in his place at all.
I know that many people in the international community -- and I trust that many Afghans -- believe that, faced with a very difficult decision, he absolutely made a courageous decision for the future of democracy in Afghanistan, setting a wonderful example, and strengthening institutions for the longer term.
VOA: Is it sufficient to fire 200 local poll workers when the leadership of IEC has been criticized as being a true Karzai base?
Ambassador Eikenberry: I think the decisions that will be made in the next several weeks -- about improving the quality of the election, making better preparations for the second round -- those are decisions that I know the IEC will take on board. I know there’s dialogue with the United Nations. I wouldn’t want to speculate on what kind of particular personnel decisions will be made.
But look, Sideq, the fact that there is a second round of the election that Afghanistan is embarking upon right now -- I think that that would certainly validate that the institutions, the IEC, the ECC, that those institutions must be working.
VOA: The runoff faces the same logistical and security challenges as in August, compounded by winter weather. Is there any additional aid or support being provided from the UN and international community to help out?
Ambassador Eikenberry: Sideq, I’m not a military commander, I’m an Ambassador. I spoke to General McChrystal a few days ago and I know that he has said that he really has all of the NATO ISAF forces ready to provide their absolute support to the Minister of Defense and the Minister of the Interior to ensure that the second round is as secure as is possible. I know there’s discussion of making some adjustments in the number of polling stations that will be open and, for the United States of America, what we’ve told the United Nations is that we’re standing by to give any and all material assistance to the United Nations and to the Independent Electoral Commission necessary to help them be ready go on the 7th of November.
Right now I’m optimistic about the preparations that I’ve seen already. Ballots are starting to be flown out to provinces; more decisions have to be made. But we’re absolutely committed to seeing a successful election being carried out on the 7th of November.
VOA: How do you encourage Afghans to go to the polls again when the perception is that Karzai will be the winner? I mean how does this round become more credible to Afghan people?
Ambassador Eikenberry: I think the decision to vote is always an individual decision, but the most important responsibility that a citizen has in representative government, in democratic government, is the responsibility to go out and vote. Presidents of countries in democracies, those who represent the people, they serve at the will of the people. They serve with the consent of the people. They serve with the support of the people. So the 7th of November is a historic opportunity for the Afghan people, here in this unprecedented second round, to go out and express their will, to state clearly whom they support, and what are the policies, what are the programs, what are the hopes of those people as they cast their vote.
We talk about mandates in elections, and for all of those citizens out there that strongly support one candidate or another, I would encourage them get out and vote, be heard. Then, based upon the results of that election, come the decisions -- you draw conclusions from that about which way the country wants to move, behind what kind of policy platform, what kind of programs. So this is a great opportunity for Afghanistan.
VOA: You have done a lot of visits and a lot of travels throughout Afghanistan and spoken to many ordinary people to listen to their concerns. What impact has the problematic election had on public’s fate and on a democratic system?
Ambassador Eikenberry: We’ll have to see what the turnout is on the 7th of November. I just came back yesterday from a very good trip to Faryab, spent the day in Mehmaneh. I saw a great interest in the people in the vote coming up here for this second round. So I know it will be difficult for the people of Afghanistan on the 7th of November to have to go to the polls a second time. And clearly in some parts of the country there will be a degree of insecurity that goes with this. But I still see hope among the Afghan people that the democratic process is intact. Indeed, in certain ways this second round has reaffirmed the commitment of the Afghan leadership and the international community in ensuring that the democratic electoral process is well defended. So we’ll see what the results are on the 7th, and I look forward to that as well.
VOA: Can you offer any insight into the negotiations that President Karzai when he appeared in the press conference seemed subdued at the press conference and was not wearing his traditional chapan. Anything symbolic there?
Ambassador Eikenberry: I listened to the words of President Karzai. I have to tell you that his words, the speech, his remarks that he delivered there were remarks that were those of a statesman. I think they were extraordinary remarks and I think they will be remarks that will serve Afghanistan well as it moves forward to try to develop its democratic institutions.
VOA: The White House says President Obama will make a decision about the U.S. role in Afghanistan in coming weeks, but believes having a [partner] there is going to take more than just one election. What else is expected from the partner?
Ambassador Eikenberry: Well, our partnership with the Afghan people, with the Afghan government is a partnership now which goes back to 2001. When we talk about looking for the results of the election and awaiting a partner, we look forward, of course, to the outcome of the election, to a new administration taking its place here to lead the Afghan government. We look forward to the inauguration of the next President of Afghanistan. And then, based upon that outcome, we -- the United States of America, president Obama’s administration -- we’re very optimistic that the sets of common goals and objectives between our people and our governments are evident enough and we’re optimistic that we’re going to have a great five years partnered with whoever is leading the next administration of Afghanistan.
VOA: You will wait for the new government to come. After that you will send more troops and you will complete your commitment to Afghanistan?
Ambassador Eikenberry: First of all, you have a government of Afghanistan right now, and that’s led by President Karzai.
VOA: I mean a new government.
Ambassador Eikenberry: And we continue on a daily basis, of course, to work closely with your government.
With regard to the next administration of Afghanistan, Sideq, and with regard to the implementation of our strategy right now, this is not an implementation of the strategy for the United States alone. First of all, we’re here with 41 other countries militarily in the NATO Alliance of NATO ISAF. We’re here with the international community as part of a greater effort led by the United Nations. And most importantly, we’re here with our allies, the Afghan people. So as we talk about the implementation and the new strategy, of course NATO is reviewing the strategy, our President is reviewing the strategy. But of course we await the emergence of a new administration of Afghanistan because this strategy is a collaborative strategy, a strategy that we’re going to implement as partners with the next administration of Afghanistan.
So the President is continuing the review. There’s no timetable for the announcement. No date has been set yet for any kind of decisions to be made. We expect it will be in weeks, not in months. But we eagerly await the next administration of Afghanistan to emerge, Sideq, because of course this is not just one hand outstretched for the United States of America to make a strategy. We need to clasp our partner’s hand. So when that next administration is in place, we’re going to clasp that hand; we’ll consult, we’ll make our combined decisions, and we’ll be ready to move forward.
VOA: What will be the nature of the partnership making U.S. defense policy? Can the nature of the partnership fundamentally change the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan?
Ambassador Eikenberry: First of all,in the strategy that we talk about, there’s tremendous emphasis that’s been placed on the question of more troops from the United States and from our NATO allies to come to Afghanistan. I’d like to emphasize to you, that’s one component of an overall strategy, the military dimension of the strategy. It’s the most visible component of the strategy politically; it’s the most emotional component of the strategy as we’re talking about sending more of our sons and daughters to come here and to help protect the Afghan people. But I emphasize, it’s only one pillar of a broader strategy. This strategy has a diplomatic dimension to it. Very importantly, it has a developmental aspect to it.
So point number one is when we talk about the new strategy, don’t focus only on the number of troops, what those troops are going to be doing.
The second point with the strategy is in the implementation of our strategy. Sideq, I’ve served in your country now for so many years, on three different occasions. I’ve never seen a better alignment of what we would say would be the goals and the interests of the international community and of the Afghan people.
To give you an example of what we’re hoping to do, with you as our partners, with you as our allies, over the next five years: we want to work with you as our partners to really strengthen the sovereignty of Afghanistan. How can we do that together?
First, we can build an Afghan National Army of 240,000 with the right kind of capabilities that it needs to really protect your people, to protect your sovereignty. We want to partner with you and build an Afghan National Police Force to 170,000 -- a police force that can protect the citizens on the streets of Afghanistan, in the rural areas; a police force that you’re proud of.
We want, as the United States of America over the next several years, we want to end our detention operations in Afghanistan. We’ve reached the point we need to do that. We’re looking for a partner that can help build the judicial systems and the correctional institutions with our help, so that we can end this business. We hope over the next several years when, we look at questions of private security companies, we want those private security companies to be private security companies not working for foreigners, but to be under the sovereign control of the government of Afghanistan. Your efforts, that all of your political candidates talked about on the campaign trail, about trying to find ways to move forward with reconciliation, to reintegration of the Taliban -- we want to support those efforts with your government in the lead.
There’s an array of areas that I can talk about right now, whether it’s in the area of governance, or whether it’s in the area of development. There are a set of programs that we’re hoping that the next administration of Afghanistan will find ways for us to reach a common understanding and as partners to move forward.
VOA: Can you tell us why Afghan election is very important to the United States?
Ambassador Eikenberry: Sideq, the defense of the rules of the election is, to the United States and I believe to our international partners, something we consider to be an absolute top priority. When we talk about the rules of the election, it goes back to the principle, the broader principle of the rule of law. And when we look at the elections that are taking place right now, Sideq, under these extraordinarily difficult conditions -- problems of security, problems of logistics, problems of implementation of the election, trying to work with the electoral institutions of Afghanistan in the first election that Afghanistan has ever run of this nature -- these are really a daunting set of challenges and these lead to very difficult kinds of deliberations among everybody -- political partiers, government, all of us. This is difficult.
But what’s the alternative, Sideq, to abandoning the rule of law? I know that the Afghan people, far better than I, know what the alternatives are. The alternative to this, to abandoning the rules, is to go back to 1992, go back to 1993 where it’s not about the rule of law at all. It’s about the rule of immoral men. It’s about the rule of power. It’s about the rule of guns. So the need to hang onto those rules -- as hard as that is, as complicated as it is, as emotional as it is -- isn’t it better than the alternative?
The Americans ourselves, we lost 50 soldiers and marines defending the first round of the election because of our belief in rule of law, Sideq, and I pray to God that we will not lose more of our soldiers and marines, and that the Afghan National Army and Police will not lose soldiers and policemen, defending the second round. I pray to God that Afghan citizens do not lose their lives and are not injured on this second round.
But I will tell you one thing from the American viewpoint. We are prepared to lose more soldiers and marines to defend the second round of the election because what moves Afghanistan forward -- what moves modern Afghanistan forward, what will help modern Afghanistan to enjoy a great future -- is hanging onto the rules of law. Because, Sideq, if you let go of the rules of law, all that’s left is the jungle. All that’s left is 1992 and 1993.
Thank you.
I wish the Afghan people the best of luck on this election of 7 November, against tough odds. I would encourage each and every one of them to get out and vote.
VOA: Thank you, sir.
Ambassador Eikenberry: Thank you.
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