Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry
Tolo TV Interview
June 15, 2009
QUESTION: First of all, welcome to Tolo TV.
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: It’s good to be here.
QUESTION: My first question, what’s the U.S. position about the Afghan election?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: Well, our position, Kakar, is that the United States in partners with the international community are totally committed to helping Afghanistan to conduct a secure election, an election which is inclusive of all the people of Afghanistan, an election which will be credible, an election that will be accepted by the Afghan people.
QUESTION: There is a lot of concern among the Afghans about the security. What’s the U.S. role in securing the Afghan election for Afghan people, fair and secure?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: A very significant contribution. You said fair and secure, let’s talk about both. First, the security.
The United States is a very proud member of the NATO International Security Assistance Force coalition that’s serving in Afghanistan now with over 60,000 soldiers from some 40 countries around the world, very committed in our operations that we would conduct with your Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police Forces over the course of the summer and through the election to provide absolute support, to help in every way to make sure that this is a secure election.
The plan is that your Ministry of Interior, your Police, will be providing the front-line for security. The Ministry of Defense, the Afghan National Army, will provide the support then to the police. The International Security Assistance Forces, that is the NATO forces that work with the United States [inaudible] member, will be providing additional support. So there’s a very good, coherent, coordinated plan to help provide security for the elections.
You also asked what assistance will the United States provide along with the international members to help ensure that this is a fair election. For the United States’ part, the United States now has committed about $240 million US for general support for the election in several different areas. First of all, we supported the logistics and implementation of the very successful voter registration that took place throughout the country last fall and winter, into the early part of this year.
Secondly, we provided significant assistance to the Independent Electoral Commission, which of course is Afghan and has oversight for the election.
In addition to that, we’re obligating additional funds to help your government to educate the voters about the procedures and talk to the voters, talk to the Afghan people about their responsibility as a citizen in a democracy to get out and vote.
QUESTION: How can you make sure that this money will be not be taken by corrupt officials?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: There’s very careful oversight of the use of that money. For instance, the money going for the Independent Electoral Commission, that money is very carefully monitored and the use of that money very carefully monitored by the Afghan Commission itself and it’s being monitored very carefully as well by the international community. A very transparent use of funds.
QUESTION: There are some reports in the media about the misuse or mismanagement of the Independent Election Commission. How can you be sure they will not misuse that money?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: First and foremost you have to remember that this is an Afghan-led election. Unlike the elections of 2004 and 2005 which were conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, this is a very different election process. This is entirely Afghan led, supported by the United Nations, supported by the international community.
So first and foremost, when you talk about potential abuses of money, the first line for reporting is with the Electoral Complaints Commission, Afghan led. The first line of supervision is with the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan. But in addition to that there is international involvement here throughout the election process. As we get closer to the election itself there will be many election observers around the world and Europe – from North America, from the NGOs. They will be part of the oversight process.
But I come back and say first and foremost, though, this is an Afghan-led election and there are Afghan mechanisms and organizations in place to supervise this election and the whole process.
QUESTION: [Inaudible] also the [inaudible], the offensive I think to the Taliban. [Inaudible] and now they are [inaudible] especially in [inaudible]. Some people think that some groups of the Taliban now come back to Afghanistan in this [inaudible] will be [inaudible]. Even [inaudible] must be [inaudible] attacks or [inaudible]. What would be the use to defeat the [inaudible] in Afghanistan itself?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: Well, several points. First of all, the Pakistani military operations being conducted [inaudible] created really a very significant humanitarian assistance challenge. Some two million people that right now have been displaced, many of them in refugee tents inside of Pakistan. We don’t anticipate right now that those operations would lead to refugees coming across into Afghanistan, but last year when there were operations by the Pakistani military conducted up in the Bajur area, that led to the displacement of some 30,000 refugees to Kunar Province.
So we see here as an interdependency and the interrelationship of the activities of international terrorists and extremists that operate from sanctuaries or areas inside of Pakistan and those that operate inside of Afghanistan and the interdependency there. So operations conducted on one side can have humanitarian consequences on both sides.
You also asked the question, more specifically, about the interrelationship between these operations on the security front. What we’ve seen with the operations that were conducted in Swat, that it appears in some instances Pakistan’s Taliban commanders called for fighters to come back from Afghanistan to help fight the Pakistan Army. If operations are conducted in Waziristan, is there a potential for fighters then, for extremist Taliban fighters to move from Waziristan and cross over into Afghanistan? Yes, there are. It shows absolutely the need for very – coordination between NATO, in some instances the United States coalition, Pakistani armed forces, Afghan armed forces. We are absolutely all fighting a common enemy and the need for very careful collaboration and coordination between all sides in order to ensure that the enemy doesn’t unwittingly then find sanctuary on one side of the border with the other side not actively moving against them.
I’d also add as a last point to this, that that’s very much accepted and recognized as we talk about the new American strategy in Afghanistan, the need to come together with Afghanistan-Pakistan and try to bring a coherent, coordinated approach for fighting this common enemy.
QUESTION: The Afghan Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry may complain about [inaudible] lack of equipment, lack of weapons. Is there any plan to give them more weapons? Are there more [inaudible]?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: There is. There’s a plan that we continue to adapt and to modify based upon the proven competence of the Afghan National Army, the proven competence of the Afghan National Police force, to improve the quality of the force and also very importantly to improve the quantity of the force.
QUESTION: It seems that the U.S. [inaudible] is not interested [inaudible] heavy weapons like tanks, like [inaudible] the Afghan Army, and they are demanding this for a long time. They also mentioned that without the heavy equipment we cannot fight Taliban [inaudible].
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: The quality of the equipment has steadily improved over the last several years and we have active concessions now going on both for the Afghan National Army, very ably led by Minister Wardak, the Chief of Defense General Bismillah Khan, and on the Ministry of the Interior side very ably led by Minister Atmar. We do have ongoing discussions when we talk about the growth, the need to further expand the size of the Afghan National Army and Police and we do have very concrete discussions going on about the quality of the equipment.
One point I would make, if you would go back to the year 2002, when I was here at that time as a United States Army Major General with a mission of providing assistance to your very new Ministry of Defense and a very new Afghan National Army, but at that time the number was less than a thousand soldiers. At that time we looked at the growth of the Afghan National Army, I think it’s fair to say that we underestimated what the eventual requirements were to be. It’s also important to note that at that particular time I think most of the viewers still recall very vividly in 2002 how destroyed this country was and what damage had been done to not only the infrastructure of the country, but very importantly to the so-called human capital. So if at that point in time in 2002, as both the Afghan National Army was just beginning to take shape, working with the coalition at that time before NATO had arrived, if we had thought at that very early point about the most sophisticated equipment, about better weapons, it’s probably true that that equipment could not have been maintained at that time.
What is interesting now, seven years after that process began, or almost seven years into this process, your Army has had spectacular success. The quality of your leaders improving every day. The quality of your soldiers improving every day. So as we can say, it’s not a very good time to be investing more for your government and for the international community, investing more in the Afghan National Army which are at a point where they can take that better equipment and they can literally start using it –
QUESTION: Does this mean that soon we will have the fighter jets like –
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: There’s steady improvement in the equipment that’s continuing on.
I went down to Kandahar recently and visited your 205th Afghan National Army Corps and I had a chance to observe one of your Afghan National Army Commando battalions. The level of equipment that the Afghan National Army Commando Battalion has, Kakar, is phenomenal, is good. They’ve got excellent weapon systems. They’ve got superb mobility using Humvee vehicles. They have night vision equipment, world class.
You’re asking also about future plans for the development of the Afghan National Army or even today. The Afghan National Army has 17 MI-17 transport helicopters. My understanding is that just last month the Afghan National Army Air Corps using its transport helicopters – it moved 90 percent of the Afghan National Army soldiers on airlift missions. A year ago it would have been 90 percent of the airlift of Afghan National Army soldiers would have had to have been done by NATO, by the coalition. So there’s a growing capacity. Eventually, yes, there’s certainly a requirement I think for the Afghan National Army Air Corps to have some kind of close air support. They already have new attack helicopters but they need additional close air support. They need additional kinds of equipment, and I think in due time, Kakar, those will come.
QUESTION: The most important defense issue in Afghanistan is the civilian casualties. Do you think [inaudible]?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: The question of civilian casualties is something which has the absolute attention of our top leadership in Washington, D.C. It’s a matter that we take very seriously. Your government has made very clear to us the consequences of unintentionally having civilian casualties caused by combat action. Let me restate what I think is a well understood point in Afghanistan. That the United States and our military forces, we regret the loss, the wounding, of any innocent civilian in conflict. And I’ll make the second obvious point, that of course we’d never target, unlike the enemies of Afghanistan, we never would deliberately target civilians. But against that, Kakar, more work has to be done. We’re committed to this.
First of all, we have to look hard at the tactics which are being used. Not only the U.S. and NATO tactics, but our tactics combined with the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. Can we avoid being in positions with our forces, with your forces together where fighting is taking place, say, from a village in which the extremist militants have occupied, a village and in a fight it’s almost inevitable then that civilians are going to be harmed? Can we do better in exchanging intelligence with the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police and your security services so that we have a better understanding as we move about where the enemy is and where they are not? And thirdly, you just asked the question about the improvement of the Ministry of Interior police forces and the Afghan National Army forces. Absolutely, this is critical to get a better Afghan National Army, a better Afghan National Police that reaches the point that your own security forces, your Army and your Police, will be conducting all combat operations throughout the country. Our forces, NATO forces, U.S. forces, here to support, here from behind, but your force is in the lead. When that day is reached, then this problem that we have, this very urgent problem we have of civilian casualties will be –
QUESTION: The argument that the Afghan people have [inaudible] U.S. troops, they think a lot of time the [inaudible] hard to reduce the civilian casualties [inaudible] Afghan people. But [inaudible] happen. Your own sense [inaudible].
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: I wouldn’t say they fail to; there has been continuing improvement. If you look at the number of civilian casualties as a result of Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and NATO coalition operations, Kakar, over the last six months compared to previous periods of time, those numbers have decreased. Our objective has to be to continue to be better, and we will. So we continue to look at the experiences that we have. We’ll continue to adapt against that. It’s very important to make this point about who the enemy is and who we are.
President Karzai, when I accompanied him on a rather emotional trip – a very emotional trip to Farah to express condolences to villagers whose relatives and families had been killed in an aerial bombardment in fighting against Taliban, President Karzai made the very clear point, and we appreciate it, which was, he said that the United States, the coalition, NATO, these are our friends that are here. We have differences with them on these kind of matters, they have to do better, but they are our friends. And then he said, and who is the enemy? He said the enemy are those that are blowing up the bridges that are being built. They’re attacking the roads that are being built. They’re burning down the schools that are being built. They’re attacking the health clinics that are being built. They’re throwing acid in the face of little girls trying to go to school. That is who the enemy is, so we have to be clear about who the enemies of Afghanistan are and who your friends are.
We, Kakar, hold that we are your friends. Sometimes friends have differences. But this is a friend that’s committed to your success in Afghanistan because your success is our success. So we will continue to work harder to improve our tactics, but at the end of the day, Kakar, we will always remember that even as we are building we are fighting an enemy that attempts to destroy.
QUESTION: Some people think that General McKiernan was removed because of the civilian casualties. What’s the truth behind it?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: General McKiernan is a good friend of mine. Before I became a diplomat and still wore a uniform, [inaudible] we had a very good professional relationship. I have nothing but admiration for General McKiernan who is a great soldier and a good friend of Afghanistan. General McKiernan leaving Afghanistan had nothing to do with the past; it had everything to do with the future.
Our President, President Obama, has announced a new strategy for Afghanistan. With a new strategy of course comes changes. There are some changes in the United States embassy. Of course there are changes in our military command, and there are changes as well in the different programs that we have, different military reconstruction, you can call it, [inaudible].
QUESTION: [Inaudible] not about the issues, related to the issues of civilian casualties?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: Absolutely not.
QUESTION: When [inaudible], people think the violence will be increased in connection. Also the [inaudible] Taliban will start fighting [inaudible], especially during the elections. Is the Afghanistan [inaudible] support to Afghan Army and to Afghan Intelligence? Especially [inaudible]?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: Well, your question was there might be more violence during the election period. I’d remind everyone, Kakar, that we’ve seen every week there’s violence that is a result of extremist militant actions throughout the country.
The week of 29 May, for instance, through the 5th of June saw Taliban extremists, militants, terrorists, throughout your country kill 34 civilians, not reported, just reported daily. But 34 civilians killed in one week, and one of those deaths was attributed to combat actions of your Afghan National Security Forces in a heavy fight with militants. This goes on every week.
This past week in Farah Province, in Golestan – in Golestan there was a school which was burned down, one teacher killed, one teacher kidnapped. In Balabaluk there was another school that was blown up and in the fire the Holy Quran was burned. These are incidents and violence which goes on continuously.
Now what will the enemy do with regard to the upcoming election? I don’t think there’s clear intelligence. I don’t know if the enemy has a plan right now for what they are actually going to do in the weeks ahead of the election. We know about the intimidation, of course. What will they do on Election Day? But with regard to the International Security Assistance Forces of NATO, with regard to the United States, we have a very close bond with your Afghan National Army, with your Afghan National Police to provide additional support and reinforcements as needed.
Over the course of this summer the U.S. alone will be having an additional 21,000 United States Army and Marines that are coming through Afghanistan, working Eastern Afghanistan, Southern Afghanistan, and of course part of their mission over the summer leading up to the August election is to help provide security and reinforce your Army and Police efforts to ensure this election.
QUESTION: According to the Defense Secretary Gates, he mentioned that the young [inaudible] insurgency [inaudible]. So are you disappointed with the events of the Iran election?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: I’ll let the Iranian people answer the question of whether there’s disappointment or not. That was their election. With regard to what Secretary Gates has said, yes, it’s very evident that Iran has had the policy on the one hand where there’s been cooperation that’s been shown towards Afghanistan. You go out to Western Afghanistan, some of the economic progress that’s occurring out there, it’s clearly attributable to Iranian investment. It’s also clear that in certain areas that Iran has very clear, common interests with Afghanistan, with the international community, for that matter with the United States. Talking about trying to find ways to fight narco trafficking. Some elements of Iran, some elements of the government, some elements of the Security Forces are keeping ties with militant extremists and as a result of those ties and some of that assistance, Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, and in some instances International Security Assistance Forces have been threatened. In some cases they’re being held.
QUESTION: How could the U.S. solve this problem?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: I’m sorry?
QUESTION: How could the U.S. really [inaudible] to find a solution for the problem?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: Well, the United States has – a part of our strategy of our new administration has had a new approach towards Iran and we’ll see if the common interests between our two countries can lead to a more sustained dialogue and open to opportunities from [inaudible] cooperation.
QUESTION: President Barack Obama [inaudible] in his speech. He mentioned that [inaudible] approach to [inaudible] and the war against terrorism is not something which is relative to Islam. How could you [inaudible]? Is this a new [inaudible] of leadership [inaudible] or new policy from the U.S. government?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: This is one of the most significant policy speeches, foreign policy speeches, that any United States President has given over the course of several decades. President Obama when he came into office beginning on inauguration day made it clear that as part of his global strategy, as part of his approach towards the rest of the free world, would emphasize a new beginning in our relations with the Muslim world. And on the 4th of June in Cairo he gave a very significant speech which may transform, and he calls it the possibility then for a new beginning and a new relationship with the world [inaudible] Islam. He talked about the need for new, clear dialogue and he talked about the need for mutual respect. He laid out very specifically elements of how this dialogue should then proceed to talk about concrete cooperation. Ways to live together in greater harmony and building [inaudible] mutual interest. That makes the very obvious point that then as we talk about the world of Islam we come to this very important country of Afghanistan.
As I looked at the reports here in Afghanistan the day after the speech it seemed that there were many people throughout the country, leaders, the people of Afghanistan, that seemed to be excited about the speech, about the prospect of a new beginning and a new dialogue between the United States of America and the world of Islam.
But there are also questions from some. They ask, well concretely then, what will this mean? What I can tell you as a United States Ambassador to the great country of Afghanistan, that here in Afghanistan this speech, this policy, means also because it gets back then to the strategy of our administration and the new strategy herein Afghanistan which I think has great promise of yielding tremendous results over the next several years.
QUESTION: Thank you.
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: Thank you. I wonder if you could ask me more questions and ask me about my travels around the country.
QUESTION: Okay. Mr. Ambassador, could you tell us about your travels around the country? How you have found the country?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: In the past month I’ve had an opportunity with my wife to travel now to Kunar Province, I’ve been to Kandahar Province and back, down to Pajwai and walked through the markets there. I’ve been to Helmand Province there to participate in the opening of the new Bost Airfield. And most recently I flew up to Panjsher Province.
I do this because it’s important in my mind to go out and not only see our own military forces and our civilians who are working tirelessly around the country in the interest of trying to promote better governance in the country and justice, to help bring peace, to help bring prosperity. In addition to that, talk directly to the Afghan people. Talk to provincial leaders. Talk to religious leaders. Talk to the people and see how they’re doing.
I have to tell you that my observations that I’ve made thus far is that there are great things that are happening right now in certain parts of Afghanistan. In my trip to Panjsher and in my trip to Kunar Province I saw that wherever security can be provided to the Afghan people, wherever security can be provided and they’re given the opportunity to have accountable governance with a little bit of help for reconstruction and development, the Afghan people can accomplish extraordinary things.
If I come back from a trip to Panjsher, if I come back from a trip to Kunar, if I come back from a trip to Pajwai, I have to tell you, I’m filled with confidence, I’m filled with optimism, and I’m filled with great respect for the Afghan people.
Every time I’ve come back to my United States Embassy, I get on the phone to Washington, D.C. and say we’ve got to keep this commitment strong because we’re making progress, and if we believe in the Afghan people they will believe in themselves and they over time will be able to secure themselves, they have the [inaudible] to achieve justice, and they’ll be able to achieve prosperity.
So we’re with you 100 percent and that commitment is going to continue into the future until the Afghan people say that they’re ready to take responsibility 100 percent for their own security and until they say to us thank you for your support and you can go home.
QUESTION: Thank you.
[New Interviewer]
QUESTION: How about changes in the high top command issue, the new general coming [inaudible] and [inaudible] key leaders [inaudible]? People think that the U.S. has lost confidence in their European allies and they want to take the leadership in the world [inaudible]. Some believe this has become the U.S. war along with [inaudible]. So what is your comment on that?
AMBASSADOR EIKENBERRY: The United States remains a very proud member of NATO and since NATO ISAF has further expanded its operations in Afghanistan, going back to 2005, since that point the United States has been the largest contributor of the number of forces [inaudible] capabilities, has always been the larger provider to the NATO ISAF here in Afghanistan.
The United States remains absolutely proud of its membership in NATO. We are one alliance member of 28, an alliance that reaches decisions based upon a consensus of all, not on the vote of one. So any kind of speculation that the United States is losing confidence in NATO is absolutely absurd. The United States is NATO – we’re part of NATO.
With the changes that we see that are going on, Nuri, over the months. First of all with regard to the command structure, NATO has over the last several years had some command [inaudible] by a U.S. military officer, by an Army officer, and that will continue. There is discussion now at the three star level of command about the possibility of NATO having, with a U.S. commander, a NATO level of operational command. But that’s under discussion in Brussels right now. It would be premature to speculate on any kind of agreement there.
Finally I’d say that the United States, as the main contributor of NATO ISAF, indeed over the course of the summer and the fall we’re increasing the number of our forces that are committed to providing security for your people and trying to create the condition so that each [inaudible] and reconstruction development takes place, there is going to be an additional 21,000 U.S. Army and Marines primarily committed in Eastern Afghanistan, Southern Afghanistan. First mission, spread out, partnering with the Afghan National Army and police and help bring security to areas right now that are threatened by militant extremists.
The second mission is work very hard with your Army and Police to help improve the quality of your Army and Police and very much to serve as the basis for further expansion of your Army and Police.
So those are the big changes that are underway right now, and of course that’s the security dimension that’s in existence to that. There is another very important dimension on the civilian side which I represent as the Ambassador and Chief of Mission of our Embassy here. We’re having a very significant increase in civilian experts that are also going to be concentrated in Eastern and Southern Afghanistan. Agricultural experts that are going to be out and about with your farmers helping them to improve the yield of their crops. We’re going to have legal experts here that are helping to provide additional assistance with building the justice system in Afghanistan. We’re going to have engineers that are going to be building road systems throughout Afghanistan, expanding the progress of the last several years.
So a very significant change in our strategy, partnering with the government of Afghanistan and your security forces, and we’re confident that that’s [inaudible].
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