Afghanistan insurgency still strong, U.N. rep says

Five years after the United States overthrew the Taliban regime, insurgency and insecurity continue to plague Afghanistan, U.N. Deputy Special Representative Christopher Alexander said in a lecture yesterday in Robertson Hall.

In a lecture titled "Afghanistan: The Current Situation," Alexander said that the international community must first understand the roots of the insurgency before it can effectively stabilize the nation. He currently serves under the Secretary General for Afghanistan, drawing on his experience as Canadian Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005.

"The focus of the past year [on Afghanistan and] the explosive growth in troop numbers are testimony that we have not succeeded in the fundamental security," Alexander said. "Key factors driving this insurgency have not been addressed."

Alexander added that the main challenge for the United Nations is to continue supporting institutions that are "credible," which he defined as agencies with strong leadership providing positive services to the population.

Only eight ministries, comprising one-third of the Afghan administration, are credible, Alexander said.

"For the first time since 2002, [the Taliban has] injected fear back into the population," he said, citing an increase in terrorist attacks across the country last year. "The grounds for insurgency were not removed. This is a failure on our part to calibrate our expectations to the reality of Afghanistan."

Alexander conceded that there has been significant, but "under-recognized," success in the region. He said the international community and the national government must examine these advances before taking future steps toward a more stable Afghanistan.

"People are living with more resources and hope than at any time under the Taliban," Alexander said.

Since the Taliban fell, 4.5 million refugees have returned to the country. "This is the greatest return of a mass of humanity since the Second World War," Alexander said.

He cited the 2001 Bonn Agreement, in which prominent Afghans outlined the framework for a new democratic government after the U.S. invasion, as a huge success for the region. The agreement established a committee to draft a new constitution for the country and called for the creation of a Supreme Court.

"It was by no means certain in conversations in 2002 that an agenda featuring an election would be feasible in a country with conflict on the scale that Afghanistan was enduring," Alexander said. A transitional government was announced that year, however, and it drafted the new Afghan constitution in December 2003. Elections were held in October 2004.

There also have been advances on the macroeconomic scale. Alexander cited the reformed currency, low inflation, strong central bank, balanced budget and new revenue collection system as evidence of economic progress. Large amounts of financial support from the international community played an important role in development, he said.

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The Afghan government has also improved healthcare and education. By partnering with the World Bank and other organizations, it has inoculated 7.3 million children against contagious diseases and enrolled more children in school, Alexander said.

But the drug trade also has grown, he said, albeit not as quickly as the other sectors of the society.

Alexander said Afghanistan must not lose track of the original keys to success: early attention to reform in lagging sectors and a critical mass of support.

"We've met basic needs, but there are gaps that need to be filled," he said.