Influential Afghan leaders, including four potential candidates for Hamid Karzai's job as president, have issued a declaration criticizing the mistakes of the international community and harshly condemning "corruption" of their own government.
The declaration was crafted during a recent two-day conference in Dubai that was organized by Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad, the Afghan-born former United States ambassador to the United Nations who himself may run against Mr. Karzai.
"International military forces have yet to find the right organization, strategy, plans and capabilities to create security for the people of Afghanistan. The problem of foreign sanctuaries used by terrorist and other anti-government armed groups did not receive timely and correct attention," the declaration states.
It says the decision to divide up the control of international military deployments by province, a policy that put the Canadians in charge of Kandahar, created a patchwork of rules of engagement that has resulted in confusion.
In addition, it says, "rising civilian casualties, injudicious alliances and insensitive raids [on the part of international armies]antagonized some of our people."
The number of casualties attributed to pro-government forces rose by 39 per cent between 2007 and 2008.
"Similarly," says the declaration, "the international civilian effort has not been well co-ordinated and too little a share of the funds appropriated to help Afghanistan have effectively reached its people."
But the most bitter denunciation was saved for the government of Afghanistan.
"Poor governance, corruption and the unwillingness of our leaders and elites to rise above their individual ambitions or the interests of parochial groups and friends undermine the legitimacy of the new order with the Afghan people," says the declaration which does not mention any politician, including Mr. Karzai, by name.
Among the key speakers at the conference were Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Afghanistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs; former minister of finance Ashraf Ghani; former minister of the interior Ali Ahmad Jalali; and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. More than 30 politicians and civil activists attended.
Mr. Abdullah, Mr. Ghani, and Mr. Jalali have expressed an interest in running for president in the elections that are scheduled for August.
Waliullah Rahmani, the executive director of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, said in a telephone interview last night that the Dubai conference was made up of important players who want to play a driving role in the future of Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, said Dr. Rahmani, there have been strategic mistakes made by both the international community and the Afghan government over the past seven years.
Dr. Rahmani said change is needed both in the team that is in power and in the structure of government itself because "centralizing the power in Afghanistan under the president did not work."
The declaration by the Afghan leaders says the decision by the United States and the international community to review their Afghanistan policy provides an opportunity to find more effective ways to turn the country into a stable democracy that does not harbour regional and international threats.
The worst thing that could happen, it says, is for the world to conclude that Afghans do not want peace and for the international community to pack up and leave.
"In that event, the chaos and bloodshed that marked the civil war likely will return," says the declaration. "It will then be entirely possible that international terrorists hijack our land once again, using it as a training ground for hostilities around the world."
The declaration also calls for "reconciliation" with the Taliban insurgents but only under winning conditions. "We will get nowhere if we talk when the insurgents are confident that they have the upper hand."