CARE Says Security Countrywide is Job No.1 in Afghanistan

CARE
Tuesday, 17 June 2003

U.S. must lead support for broader NATO mission or pay price of failed peace

CARE is calling on the U. S. government to support a broader NATO mission when the organization assumes leadership of the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul on August 10. CARE has been fighting poverty in Afghanistan for 30 years and believes it is critical for the United States to focus immediately on insecurity in the country.

"The U.S. must act now, to lead and marshal support for a larger NATO role in Afghanistan come August," says CARE USA President Peter Bell. "It is not enough for NATO to take over security duties in Kabul. NATO must be tasked with helping the Afghan government to make the country safe so Afghans can go about their daily lives without fear. The U.S. has the ability and responsibility to provide resources and support to NATO so it can take on this broader, vital mission."

In January 2002, President Bush promised that "we will help the new Afghan Government provide the security that is the foundation for peace." It is urgent for the U.S. government to deliver on this promise. A broader NATO mandate is necessary because the nascent Afghan national army cannot address security needs in the next several years. There is also a need for a national police force. There is a great risk that the security gap will overwhelm efforts for democracy to take root and make it impossible to hold national elections scheduled for June 2004.

"Violence from every quarter threatens to overtake the country's fragile peace-warlords, Taliban supporters, drug traffickers, common crime and cross border military incursions," says Bell. "The U.S. government needs to be much more proactive about helping to solve the short-term problems in the country."

The Henry L. Stimson Center, an independent public policy institute, has argued that a force of 18,000 could secure major urban centers and the commercial routes between them at a cost of less than $3 billion a year, less than a third of the cost of the war against the Taliban. NATO members such as Turkey have demonstrated that an international Muslim force can help provide effective security.

"The situation in Afghanistan remains critical," adds Bell. "The country is not even halfway to recovery and reconstruction yet. The U.S. still has a critical role to play. The price of inaction will be a failed peace."

For more information, or to contact CARE, see their website at: www.care.org