"Political imagination will make the difference between success and failure" in Afghanistan, Ghani says

Former finance minister and presidential candidate addresses Wooster Forum

WOOSTER, Ohio, Sept. 28, 2010 – America has the most powerful, sophisticated military in human history, but “use of force alone is not going to solve the challenge” of bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, said Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister, presidential candidate, and adviser to President Hamid Karzai. “Political imagination will make the difference between success and failure,” Ghani told an attentive audience at last night’s Wooster Forum event.

Though commentators often refer to the nine-year U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as America’s longest war, Ghani said it is more accurate to describe it as a very short war, which the U.S. fought and won in late 2001, followed by almost eight years in which America’s leaders turned their attention away from Afghanistan, and a renewal of hostilities in 2009, when President Obama decided to send more U.S. combat forces into the country.

Beginning in 2002, the Bush administration “repeatedly chose to accommodate Afghanistan’s past rather than align with its future,” Ghani said, in order to focus resources and attention on the war in Iraq. It was a past characterized by violence, corruption, and the repression of women. Those elements still exist in Afghan society today, along with a thriving drug trade fueled by European demand, but Ghani insisted they are only part of the picture.

Afghan civil society is growing stronger, he said. There is a vibrant media, emerging networks aimed at empowering women, and a growing culture of entrepreneurship. More than 42 percent of the population is under the age of 20. Moreover, given the country’s mineral wealth, Afghanistan has the potential to become one of the world’s largest producers of iron and copper, as well as “the Saudi Arabia of lithium” — an essential component of batteries for electric vehicles.

According to Ghani, General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is making an enormous difference. But while nine years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught the U.S. military to continuously learn and adapt to changing conditions, the civilian branches of the U.S. government, such as the State Department, and international development agencies have not followed suit. “Afghanistan shows the bankruptcy of the development system. One of the largest problems we face is how to coordinate the development actors with one another and with the military.”

Despite many challenges, Ghani remains optimistic about Afghanistan’s future. He believes that if multiple networks of resources can be brought to bear, both inside and outside the country, those challenges can be surmounted.

“Fate has brought us together, and that fate was called 9/11,” Ghani said in closing. “You are part of the solution. Work with us, and together we can solve the problems.”