Afghan people need a proper voice, not another election shambles — hence my resignation Nick Horne

[maddezmom]

We must force political change, or fail
Afghan people need a proper voice, not another election shambles — hence my resignation
Nick Horne 3 Comments


Two days ago, I left the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan because, as I stated in my resignation letter, “I have believed for some time that the mission and indeed the engagement of the international community in Afghanistan were failing to tackle the fundamental political issues underlying the insurgency”. I had worked for UNAMA since June 2007, first in the southeast of the country, and then, from the start of this year, at the headquarters in Kabul, joining Peter Galbraith’s political team on election day.

From the beginning of my time in Afghanistan, I got the sense that we were drifting. That, although we had many programmes and initiatives, we did not really have a strategy worthy of the name. In fact, we were not even having the types of discussions that might lead to a strategy. Although I have tried to remain optimistic, I now believe that strategic failure is the most likely outcome of our engagement in Afghanistan.

Among the greatest mistakes of the international community has been its laissez-faire approach to the corruption, cronyism and venality of the Afghan Government. The insurgency is winning not so much because the Taleban’s ideology and platform have popular appeal, but because the Afghan Government is seen as corrupt, unrepresentative and ineffective. The counter-insurgency approach promoted by the ISAF Commander, General McChrystal, is entirely dependent on there being a government that Afghan people feel is worth fighting for, rather than against.

Ideally this would have been delivered through elections. But on election day, as I worked in the UN election co-ordination centre in contact with colleagues in offices across Afghanistan, it became obvious to us that the elections had failed. Turnout was just too low and fraud too high for the results ever to be credible. Instead of seeking an alternative political process, as a number of us proposed, we attempted to salvage the elections in a messy, drawn-out affair that satisfied almost no-one.

more:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6898668.ece

[snagglepuss]

1. Excellent piece. A must read. K &R nt