12 May 2010

Obama Offers Support for Afghan Peace Jirga

 

President Obama said U.S. forces are taking risks to minimize Afghan civilian casualties, describing it as “a burden we’re willing to bear.”

President Obama said U.S. forces are taking risks to minimize Afghan civilian casualties.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — President Obama expressed support for the Afghan government’s planned consultative peace jirga aimed at discussing how to reconcile Taliban fighters with the rest of the country, describing the national council as “an important milestone that America supports.”

Speaking alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House May 12 after their meeting, Obama said the United States supports efforts to “open the door” to Taliban fighters who are willing to cut their ties to al-Qaida and other extremist groups, renounce violence, and accept the Afghan constitution, including respect for human rights and women’s rights.

“President Karzai should be able to work to reintegrate those individuals into Afghan society,” Obama said. Emphasizing the need for an Afghan-led effort, the president added that the peace jirga would create a framework to move toward that reconciliation.

The jirga, scheduled for May 29, is expected to attract 1,500 Afghan men and women representing political, tribal, business and civil society communities. The goal, according to a May 12 commentary by Karzai published in the Washington Post, is to “chart a way forward for engaging those who fight against us.”

Obama said a political component is ultimately needed to achieve Afghan peace and stability. “This is not just going to be a military solution,” he said.

The peace jirga, as well as a July donors conference in Kabul, sends a strong message of the Afghan government’s “commitment to rule of law and good governance and human rights and women’s rights,” and as the government gains more confidence from the Afghan people, “their fear of the Taliban weakens,” he said.

But the president added that the military component remains necessary to break the momentum of the Taliban and create additional incentives for their fighters to make peace with the Afghan government.

“At what point do the Taliban start making different calculations about what’s in their interests?” Obama said. “How the Afghan people feel about these issues is in part going to be dependent on our success in terms of carrying out our mission there.”

The president said the United States will continue to work with Afghan and international partners to “do everything in our power to avoid actions that harm the Afghan people” as military efforts by Afghan forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) continue against the insurgents.

Although the Taliban are responsible for most of the innocent civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Obama said he and ISAF commander General Stanley McChrystal are “ultimately accountable” for civilian casualties caused by coalition military operations and “we do not take that lightly.”

Coalition forces are putting themselves at risk to reduce civilian casualties, and that is “a burden we’re willing to bear,” he said, but “mistakes are going to be made.”

Karzai said he and Obama discussed the “ways and means” of protecting civilians and acknowledged “considerable progress” since the arrival of McChrystal as ISAF commander.

Karzai welcomed President Obama’s commitment to transfer the responsibility for detention facilities to the Afghan government, saying he considered it “a major point of progress in our conversations.”

According to a May 12 joint statement by the two leaders, the transfer will begin in January 2011 with the Parwan detention facility, and the United States will continue to assist the Afghan government in building “safe, secure and humane corrections systems.”

“Both presidents recognized that a successful transition will be an important milestone toward achieving President Karzai’s inaugural pledge of having the Afghan Government assume full responsibility over detention operations,” the statement said, adding that President Obama had “emphasized his strong desire to see all search, arrest and detention operations be carried out by the Afghan National Security Forces.”

In his remarks, President Obama acknowledged that President Karzai has made progress in improving governance in Afghanistan, but said both leaders agreed that “much more work needs to be done.”

Obama pledged that the United States will “sustain a robust commitment” toward the country as the Afghan government assumes more security responsibility, and he welcomed the large delegation of Afghan ministers and officials who had come to Washington for the bilateral talks.

“The presence here today of so many leaders from both our governments underscores how we can partner across a full range of areas, including development and agriculture, education and health, rule of law and women’s rights,” Obama said. “Together, we can unleash Afghanistan’s vast potential.”

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)