On track toward a new Afghanistan

アフガニスタン復興に向けて

This amount of aid will cover the needs of Afghanistan's interim administration, including the cost of running the government and launching quick-impact recovery programs, which Prime Minister Hamid Karzai estimates will amount to between $1.8 billion and $2 billion in the initial year. The international community's enthusiasm to defuse one of the world's chronic trouble spots through concerted endeavors at nation-building has produced the desired results.

However, the real challenge — rebuilding a country devastated by more than two decades of war — remains ahead, and is daunting indeed. The destruction that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States was only part of the Afghan crisis, which began with the Soviet invasion of that country in December 1979. Soviet forces pulled out in 1989, but the ensuing civil war plunged Afghanistan into further turmoil. The situation worsened with the emergence, in 1995, of the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamic militia that went on to provide a haven for Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks, and his al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Now the Taliban regime is gone and so, too, are the al-Qaeda terrorists it harbored. The residue of Islamic extremism may exist in Afghanistan, but under the direction of the interim administration, installed in December with the blessing of the international community, the country has been moving in the right direction. Rehabilitating a society razed by decades of disorder is a Herculean task, however. The first order of business is to restore administrative functions, establish law and order, repatriate refugees and provide basic health care and education.

These and other recovery efforts will severely test the will of the interim administration, a scratch team of rival factions and tribes, as well as the efficiency of international cooperation. By presenting clear prospects for financing the reconstruction of Afghanistan, a major international hurdle was cleared at the Tokyo conference. To maintain this forward momentum, however, it is important that Afghanistan's new leaders bury their differences for the common good of the country. Disunity could derail the recovery program and drive the country into a corner once again.

Aid and security are inseparably connected. Assistance activity will be seriously hampered if the country remains a dangerous place. Steady progress in aid projects will stabilize conditions in Afghanistan and give a fillip to its self-help efforts. In this sense, a solid pledge of cooperation at the Tokyo meeting must have sent a reassuring message.

Donor nations, however, should carefully resist temptations to pursue narrower interests. It may be useful to recall that Soviet and U.S. interventions in Afghanistan during the Cold War — with each superpower trying to advance its own interests — left the country in ruins and sowed, if unwittingly, the seeds of terrorism that sprouted after the war's end. Donor nations must base their commitments on the aspirations of the Afghan government and people.

As U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan emphasized in Tokyo, the "real test" is not how quickly the donors can pledge their help, but whether the donors will make good on those pledges — whether the donors immediately provide the aid that now desperately needed. The donors also must prepare for the long haul. Reconstruction is a long process that will continue even after a popularly elected government is established two and a half years from now. At the same time, Afghanistan's new leaders must do their utmost to create a transparent and accountable government to ensure that aid money will be well spent. Should the funds provided be misused, feeding rampant corruption, concerted international efforts would end in failure.

Japan, which must play a key role in the international development community, has promised to provide $500 million over 30 months, mostly for clearing land mines, medical assistance, education, refugee relief and women's programs. The long protracted recession has been discouraging Japan from maintaining a profile as an active international donor, but this should not deter the nation from continuing to play a leading cooperative role in Afghanistan's nation-building.

The Japan Times: Jan. 23, 2002
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     　タリバン政権も、政権により匿われていたテロ組織、アルカイダも、もはやアフガニスタンには存在しない。12月の暫定行政機構発足以来、国は正しい方向に進みつつある。しかし長期間にわたり混迷状態だった社会の再生は困難な仕事だ。最優先課題は行政機能の回復、法と秩序の確立、難民の帰国、医療と教育の提供だろう。

     　復興の取組みにおいて、対抗勢力からなる暫定行政機構の決意と、国際協力の効率が試される。東京会議で再建資金調達の見通しが示され、国際協力の大きなハードルは越えることができた。この勢いを維持するには、アフニスタンの指導者達が国の共通の利益に向け、見解の相違をこえて手を結ぶことが重要だ。

     　援助と安全保障は密接な関係にある。国が危険な情勢にあれば援助活動に支障が起き、援助計画が着実に進展すれば国内情勢が安定し、自助努力が促される。しかし支援国は、自国の利益を追求する誘惑に打ち勝つ必要がある。冷戦時代、米ソがそれぞれの利益のためにアフガニスタンに介入したこと思い出すといい。国は荒廃し、テロの種が蒔かれた。支援の約束は、アフガニスタン政府と国民の希望に基づいたものでなくてはならない。

     　アナン国連事務総長が会議で強調したように、援助国にとっての本当の試練は、必要性の高い資金を早急に提供できるかどうかだ。国の復興は長丁場の取組みになる。新しい指導者達は支援金の有効活用をはかるため、透明度が高く、責任感の強い政府の樹立に邁進しなくてはならない。日本は地雷撤去、医療、教育、難民救済、女性の地位向上などのため、30ヵ月で5億ドルの拠出を約束している。長引く不況に苦しむ日本だが、アフガン再建への協力で主要な役割を果たし続けねばならない。

The Japan Times Weekly
Feb. 2, 2002
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