As President Bush has often reminded us, the people of Afghanistan are not our enemy. Now, the Bush administration has taken a key step toward showing the world the truth of that statement.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has pledged $296 million of U.S. foreign aid this year to rebuilding Afghanistan. That can be a first step toward helping Afghanistan rebuild as a functioning, rational society and a strategically located ally.
The pledge of U.S. aid occurred Monday at an international conference in Tokyo, where Japan, Saudi Arabia, European nations and other donors quickly pushed the total of early pledges over $3 billion.
The real work and costs are just beginning in Afghanistan. As Powell remarked, reconstruction will be much harder than putting the vicious Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists to flight. The leadership for rebuilding must come from Afghans themselves, but the financing can only come from abroad. After more than 20 years of warfare, most of the country is as devastated as the country’s treasury, looted by the fleeing Taliban. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan estimates that $10 billion will be needed over the next five years.
While it is appropriate for other countries to provide a large share of the contributions, the United States has an overriding interest in the success of Afghanistan’s reconstruction. We must make sure that the world and we avoid the kind of donor fatigue witnessed elsewhere.
The destruction of Sept. 11 will stand as a reminder of the practical dangers for America of ignoring the collapse of any society in our interconnected world. Afghanistan provided a hothouse atmosphere for the growth of terrorism. With its central Asian location Afghanistan will continue to have an important bearing on any number of countries whose futures are vital to American national interests. If we are to hope for a peaceful world in the years ahead, we must assure that Afghanistan doesn’t help spread chaos to Pakistan, Russia, Turkey or China. And we cannot allow Afghanistan to be used by militant forces in Iran or elsewhere.
American history provides many examples of the long-term security that derives from helping the people of a former enemy, especially a devastated one. Reconciliation can eventually grow without much significant aid, as Vietnam shows, but Vietnamese society retained a good deal of strength through a long civil war. In contrast, Afghanistan’s destruction, both physically and culturally, may be even more total than that of Germany or Japan after World War II.
As the Pentagon turns its attention toward other fronts in the war against terrorism, Americans should realize that we have provided aid elsewhere as well. The Philippines and Indonesia, for instance, need short-term military aid and long-term development assistance if they are to escape the threat of terrorist movements and grow into stable democracies. By acting in good faith to assist Afghanistan, we will help make the case to those countries and others that we are interested in living together in mutual security with any people of good will, not simply projecting American power.
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