Increasing Efforts in Afghanistan

The United States sends an abundance of soldiers to Afghanistan and demands that its allies commit the same. Norway answers by providing more monetary support.

Strasbourg (Dagsavisen): Several signs indicate that the Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will announce increased Norwegian efforts in Afghanistan this afternoon, even though no one would officially confirm this yesterday. Most probably, this does not mean an increased military presence, rather monetary assistance and/or increased support for the training of domestic Afghan army and police forces. This will be Norway’s answer to America’s new president Barack Obama, who has put pressure on his allies to increase their efforts in the war torn country.

Today and tomorrow, Stoltenberg will meet Obama and leaders from other NATO countries during the alliance’s summit meeting. Norway assists with approximately NOK 750 million each year in civil support to Afghanistan, in addition to 600 Norwegian soldiers for the NATO-led ISAF force.

The UN’s Special Representative to Afghanistan, Norwegian Kai Eide, has proposed that the NATO members switch their support from the units that do reconstruction work (PRT) to Afghan programs with smaller budgets. Today, it is notable that 80 percent of the total assistance provided to the country is channeled through foreign groups.

NEW STRATEGY

Obama comes to the NATO summit with a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan which includes both more soldiers and more civil support. Afghanistan expert and researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, Astri Suhrke, believes that Obama’s strategy is risky and that the Norwegian government should use the summit to lower NATO’s expectations to the new strategy.

“Norway should bring a more realistic view to the debate. This is a capital-intensive strategy which purports sending a great number of civilian workers and civil support. This will increase the problem of corruption. At the same time, it will become more difficult for foreign aid workers to operate in Afghanistan. They sit in offices with bomb safe doors and will not be able to work in the field,” Suhrke states.

Corruption is a substantial problem in Afghanistan, and the international community has expressed serious criticism of President Hamid Karzais’ lack of attention to the issue.

CLIENT STATE

Suhrke is also skeptical to America’s goal of establishing an effective and durable state merely to prevent al-Qaeda and the Taliban from plotting more terrorist attacks, instead of focusing on establishing a democratic Afghan state. “Such a state will become so reliant on international military and civil support that it will be a de facto client state. The government will consequently be more prone to listen to the international community instead of its own population. This will result in a fragile stability. There will be an inherent conflict between the end and the means,” Suhrke says and uses the planned expansion of the Afghan army from 80,000 to 134,000 soldiers as an example. “Afghanistan cannot finance this themselves. They are reliant on outside support. And in this scenario the army will be perceived as an instrument of foreign powers. What kind of legitimacy will that create,” she asks.

MILITARY EXPANSION

Obama has made it abundantly clear that he will focus all efforts on demolishing the terror-threat posed by al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Accordingly, he will expand the military, and send 21,000 American soldiers to the country in increments. At the same time, the United States pushes for an increased military commitment by the other NATO members. Moreover, NATO leaders have incessantly asked for 4000 extra soldiers to South Afghanistan for four months, in order to provide safe elections 20 August.

It is expected that some countries will answer the American request during the summit today and tomorrow. But most of the allies, including Norway, already feel that they have made a very strong commitment and will not meet the request easily.