There is a good chance that the UN Security Council’s unanimous endorsement of the "Kabul Declaration," in which China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan pledged to preserve peace, democracy and human rights in Afghanistan, may prevent that country from becoming once again a theater for proxy wars. Many of them had contributed to the conflict that went on for 23 years.
Their commitment, given on Sunday, may keep outsiders out of the country. But that need not mean peace for the land. There are enough insiders operating there. Shortly after the confirmation of Hamid Karzai as interim president, an Afghan journalist in Kabul wrote that there was only one price for peace that was not worth paying, and that price, he said, was more war.
The Soviet invasion unified large parts of the country. But when the invaders were finally ousted, the newfound unity quickly proved fragile. The warlords fought over the wrecked country, particularly the capital. Kabul, indeed, suffered far more damage after the Soviet evacuation than it had ever done in the war. Rival factions slugged it out in the streets with high-powered artillery.
Initially, the arrival of the austere forces of the Taleban came as a massive relief to ordinary Afghans, who were glad finally to see the back of the squabbling warlords, who put personal power before any consideration, not only of Afghanistan as a whole, but of their own supporters in particular.
They are back. Even those who had been driven out, like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, are now in action. He is a classic example of Afghanistan’s old-style leaders who are unable to see that the way in which their country is run needs to be, and will be, changed. Chased out by the Taleban, Hekmatyar fled to Iran where, until his expulsion this spring, he nursed dreams of re-establishing his power base as a warlord. His party Hezb-e-Islami has since blown hot and cold about the Karzai administration. At one time, Hekmatyar announced that he would have nothing to do with Afghanistan’s new political order because of the presence of foreign troops on the country’s soil. Then his party’s deputy said that Hekmatyar had been misquoted. But Hekmatyar has now said that he utterly rejects the Afghan peace process, not least because it involves foreign troops on Afghan soil. He is, therefore, allying himself with the surviving elements of the Taleban and Al-Qaeda, operating in the area along the Pakistan and Afghan borders.
Afghanistan does not need warlords jostling for political advantage as in the old days. There is a bigger, more important agenda. Afghans have a chance to shape their own future without foreign interference. Its independence is guaranteed by the whole international community. Massive amounts of aid have been promised to help the country, not only to rebuild, but to transform itself. Even though much of that money is still awaited, the offers are there on the table and cannot be withheld if Afghanistan proves it is succeeding in its struggle for stability.
Hekmatyar and his like are not part of this new Afghanistan. The noblest final gift that they could give their country would be to quietly withdraw from the political fray and instead cultivate their rose gardens.
