Debate article
Svenska Dagbladet 28 January 2010
Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs

Terror will not prevail in Afghanistan

The major London conference on Afghanistan starts today, 28 January. Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, together with the UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Miliband, has written an article in the Swedish daily newspaper SvD. "Afghanistan must never be a hotbed for international terrorism and the neighbouring countries must start to cooperate in order to combat the cross-border problems of terrorism, crime and drugs," write the two foreign ministers.

On 28 January, Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers will join others from around the world in London for a conference on Afghanistan.

President Karzai's inauguration speech in November set out a clear agenda for his country. President Obama outlined the US response, particularly on security. But in the first few months of 2010, we need to ally the resources of the whole 43 nation coalition behind Afghan leadership.

The rationale for the mission in Afghanistan remains the same: to give Afghanistan the stability that ensures that it never again becomes an incubator of international terrorism.

The focus of the London conference is to mobilise effort behind a clear plan for how to deploy reinforced civilian and military resources. This was the essence of the EU Action Plan that we adopted together last autumn and that we gradually want to put into action.

The first rule is to understand the challenge. The insurgency is a loose collection of individuals fighting not just for an ideology, but for money, power, pride or self-preservation. It has co-opted foreign fighters, local tribes, and those involved in the drug trade. The Afghan government - with our support - must win over the support of ordinary Afghans, divide the enemy, and get Afghanistan's neighbours to become part of the solution.

To achieve this, the international effort needs to be upgraded in three key areas.

First, ordinary Afghans need to be confident that when international troops leave, it will be the Afghan authorities, not the Taliban, that will prevail.

So the conference will focus on how international forces can help mentor, partner and develop the Afghan National security Forces. We are making progress. Afghan National Security Forces are involved in 90% of all military operations. But there is more to be done. In particular, we want the Afghan Government to commit to providing and deploying more military and police,in the key provinces and districts most threatened by the insurgency.

For those insurgents feeling the pressure, as ordinary Afghans turn against them, and the military steps up its operations, we need a serious reintegration programme to give insurgents a route back into normal Afghan life. We hope that at the London Conference the international community will announce its willingness generously to fund an Afghan-led reintegration programme.

The second - and equally important - challenge is to reinforce our civil efforts to help Afghanistan build a functioning state that can provide justice and give help to the Afghan people.

At a national level, the Afghan government must respond by tackling corruption and providing the Afghan people with the services they want and need. But the most important reform is to build up structures of local government to ensure effective and inclusive representation. President Karzai's suggestion of a loya jirga - a gathering of regional leaders and tribal chiefs - in 2010 could be an important step in the right direction.

Deciding Afghanistan's internal structures must be matter for Afghans but the international community must stand ready to help and winning the governance battle cannot be done on the cheap.

The third element in weakening the insurgency is a new relationship between Afghanistan and all its neighbours. Terrorism, crime, drugs and migration spill over Afghanistan's borders. Yet each of the neighbouring countries could do more to stabilise Afghanistan and stem the flow of foreign funding and support to terrorists. To do this, more trust needs to be built between countries within the region. That is why all Afghanistan's and key regional partners have been invited to the London Conference.

The presence of the Nordic and Baltic nations at the London Conference is highly valued and their support will help to forge a clearer and more coherent international position.

But ultimately its success will depend not just on commitments and promises made on the day, but on strategies and actions pursued by individual nation states over the months and years to come. The border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan remains the incubator of choice for international terrorism. Each country must play their part in bringing stability to Afghanistan and the region.

DAVID MILIBAND, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
CARL BILDT, Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs