Security in Afghanistan: Progress and Challenges.

Sempa, Francis P.

Security in Afghanistan: Progress and Challenges

By General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Minister of Defense, Afghanistan

Reviewed by Francis P. Sempa, Contributing Editor

Video: http://multimedia.heritage.org/content/wm/Lehrman-092408a.wvx

On September 24, 2008, General Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan Minister of Defense, spoke at the Heritage Foundation about the ongoing war against terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan, a topic that was much discussed at the first presidential debate between Senators McCain and Obama.

General Wardak, who commanded some Afghan forces during the successful effort against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, discussed the recent surge in violence, lamenting that 2008 has been the bloodiest year in Afghanistan in recent years of fighting. Foreign fighters, he said, were operating in more areas of Afghanistan than ever before, and the borders of the country remain porous. The enemy of the Afghan National Army and U.S. and NATO forces has grown stronger and more sophisticated. General Wardick, nevertheless, expressed confidence that the joint efforts of the Afghan National Army and NATO forces will result in ultimate success.

He defined success as the establishment of a secure and politically legitimate government that has the capability to defend Afghan territory and police that territory on its own. This will require, he said, a larger Afghan army, a more professionalized and less corrupt police force, economic growth and development, and continued support by the United States and the international community, including greater regional cooperation. Accomplishing these goals will permit a gradual drawdown of U.S. and NATO forces, but that drawdown must be accompanied by a commitment to an enduring strategic partnership between Afghanistan, the United States and other allies.

Success in Afghanistan, the General believes, can help to produce wider regional stabilization and, hopefully, avoid this central and south Asia crossroads' return to being the object of another "great game" by the world's powers.

General Wardak expressed deep appreciation and gratitude for the sacrifices of U.S. and allied forces to the common effort to defeat Taliban forces and their terrorist allies. Afghanistan, he said, must never again become a base for terrorists. Invoking Winston Churchill, the Afghan Minister of Defense said, "Success is not final and failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue which counts."