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Secretary of State Kerry makes an unannounced visit to Afghanistan Kerry, in unannounced visit, urges Afghanistan’s divided leaders to work together
(about 5 hours later)
KABUL — Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday to show support for a government that has grown increasingly unpopular as a stumbling economy and a resilient Taliban fuel a brain drain of Afghan migrants. KABUL — Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Saturday urged Afghan’s disputatious leaders to cooperate and to demonstrate to donor nations that they are capable of managing military and financial aid.
The visit to Kabul was Kerry’s second unannounced stop in two days. On Friday, he traveled to Baghdad as the Iraqi government readied a military offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State. Like Afghanistan, Iraq is grappling with economic, political and security crises. The secrecy in advance of Kerry’s visits underscored the precarious security and political instability in the two countries that the United States invaded after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Kerry came to Afghanistan to tell the two political rivals — who share power in an uneasy arrangement that Kerry himself brokered 18 months ago — that they must get their act together before donor conferences later this year.
“Democracy requires credible institutions,” Kerry said, standing behind President Ashraf Ghani after separate meetings with him and later with Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. “More than that, it requires people from different political, ethnic and geographic fractions to be able to come together and work for the common good.”
Ghani and Abdullah both claim to have won the 2014 presidential election. By many accounts, they have difficulty communicating with each other, and the government is stalemated on several basic issues.
Meanwhile, the supposed unity government they head has grown increasingly unpopular and unworkable as a stumbling economy and a resilient Taliban fuel a brain drain of Afghan migrants to Europe.
The visit to Kabul was Kerry’s second unannounced stop in two days, following a day in Baghdad. The advance secrecy surrounding these visits underscores the precarious security and political instability in the two countries that a U.S.-led coalition invaded after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
[Kerry arrives in Baghdad in show of support for government][Kerry arrives in Baghdad in show of support for government]
In Kabul, Kerry is to meet with Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani for the U.S.-Afghanistan Bilateral Commission, the framework for discussing the relationship between the two countries. In both countries, the secretary confronted a bleak political landscape beset by strikingly similar economic and security crises.
“The meeting is an opportunity for U.S. and Afghan leaders to discuss areas of mutual interest and cooperation and to outline progress in the areas highlighted in our Strategic Partnership Agreement: security and defense, democracy and governance, and social and economic development,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby. In Baghdad, the government is preparing an offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State and is under pressure to root out corruption and find the money to fund basic services.
Kerry also will meet with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, two political rivals uneasily sharing power in an arrangement that has created a government riven by infighting. In Kabul, the challenges are even greater. The country’s poverty rate has risen to 49 percent as foreign troops have withdrawn, leaving thousands of Afghans unemployed.
Kirby said Kerry will stress U.S. support for the Afghan government and security forces, as well as ways to drum up international donations at coming summits in Warsaw and Brussels. They also will discuss the faltering attempts to hold peace talks with the Taliban and end years of conflict, Kirby said. The Taliban and branches of Islamic militant groups such as the Islamic State, said to be mostly made up of disaffected Taliban fighters, still control parts of the countryside. Prospective peace talks have stalled, and the Taliban has shown no sign it will come to the negotiating table.
There are currently 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from 150,000 at the peak and a level President Obama wants to maintain through the fighting season. The number is to be whittled down to 5,500 by the beginning of next year, when a new administration will determine troop levels. The fighting between government troops and insurgents has led to the closure of hundreds of schools and propelled an exodus of Afghans seeking a better life elsewhere. Afghans represent one in five migrants arriving in Europe, second only to Syrians in number.
[U.S. troops are back in restive Afghan province, a year after withdrawal] In his opening remarks at a meeting with Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, Kerry adopted the tone of a coach gently chiding a team with a string of losses at season’s end.
U.S. officials maintain that Afghanistan has made strides since the U.S. invasion in 2001. He said there was no time to spare, citing two critical meetings later this year. NATO nations meet in Warsaw in July to discuss security assistance to Afghanistan, and a Brussels conference on development aid for the country is scheduled in October.
“If we look at the sort of experience the international community, and specifically our country, has had in Afghanistan over the past 15 years, we want to take account of the advances that have been made in development, particularly health and education, electricity, communications,” said Richard Olson, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. “It really is a very changed society.” “To make them a success, we need to maximize each and every day between now and those meetings,” Kerry said as he sat beside Rabbani in a large, ornately decorated room at the presidential palace lined with oil portraits of Afghan leaders through the ages.
But economic and security challenges have gotten in the way. The poverty rate has risen to 49 percent as foreign troops have withdrawn, leaving thousands of Afghans unemployed. “We need to make certain that the government of national unity is doing everything possible to be unified and deliver to the people of Afghanistan,” Kerry continued. “We each have a huge stake in continuing your country’s forward momentum.”
Government forces have gone on the offensive against Islamic militants, many of whom are said to be disaffected Taliban members. But prospective peace talks have stalled. After sitting down to negotiate last year, the Taliban representatives have refused to return, saying they will not negotiate while foreign troops are in the country. Ghani appeared to agree, telling reporters he hoped to come to Warsaw and Brussels with a comprehensive reform program that will target corruption.
Fighting between government troops and the insurgents has led to the closure of hundreds of schools and propelled an exodus of Afghans seeking a better life elsewhere. Afghans make up at least one in five migrants arriving in Europe, second only to Syrians. Adding to the sense of urgency is the prospect of a dwindling U.S. military presence.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Ghani said he had “no sympathy” for those who flee instead of staying to build their own country. Currently, 9,800 U.S. troops serve in Afghanistan, a level President Obama wants to maintain through the fighting season. But he has set a goal of 5,500 by the end of his term.
Despite the concerns voiced by Kerry, U.S. officials maintain that Afghanistan has made strides since the U.S. invasion in 2001. Kerry mentioned that when he came to Afghanistan as a senator 14 years ago, almost all the children in school were boys. Now fully a third are girls.
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