,
WASHINGTON: Western nations must do more to crack down on the drug trade and corruption in Afghanistan, NATO's commander said on Wednesday as the alliance prepared to assume security duties for the whole country.
NATO troops have faced a surge of violence in the South and East of Afghanistan, the most intense since U.S.-led forces toppled the hardline Taliban Islamist government five years ago following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
But U.S. Marine Gen. James Jones, NATO's top operational commander, said efforts to rebuild the country and establish the rule of law posed the biggest challenge.
“In my view, Afghanistan will not be resolved by military means,” he said in Washington.
“I'm confident that we can take on any military challenge that there is and be successful, but the real challenge in Afghanistan … is how well the reconstruction mission, the international aid mission, is focussed,” he said.
“And on that score I think there is a requirement to do more, to bring more focus, more clarity, more purpose and more results in a shorter period of time,” he told an event organized by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
“Fundamentally, this is the exit strategy for Afghanistan,” he said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) already commands forces in the North, West and South of Afghanistan as well as in the capital Kabul. On Thursday it takes command of some 12,000 U.S. troops in the East.
The U.S. troop transfer had been expected later in the year but alliance officials said battles with resurgent guerrillas in the South showed an urgent need to pool British, Dutch and Canadian troops under NATO with the U.S. forces.
U.S. COMMAND
Some 8,000 U.S. troops will remain under separate U.S. command, focussing on training Afghan security forces, counter-terrorism efforts and combat support roles.
Jones said tackling Afghan opium production was vital and profits from the trade were funding Taliban guerrillas.
The NATO mission, however, does not have a major role in tackling drugs. It is the responsibility of the Afghan government supported by Western civilian agencies.
“The lead nation is the United Kingdom. There's supposed to be a tremendous energy associated with this but it needs a fresh look because … we're losing ground,” Jones said.
A U.N. report last month said Afghan poppy cultivation would soar to a record level this year and yield 92 percent of the world's supply of opium, the raw material for heroin.
Jones also identified reform of the police and judiciary as areas in need of more attention.
“There are 1,000 prosecutors in Afghanistan, they live on $65 a month. They cannot exist on $65 a month in Kabul. An interpreter for the United Nations makes about $630 a month,” he said.
“There's something backwards there and somebody needs to fix that. Interpreters are important but prosecutors who are not corrupt are even more important.”
