Press Communiqué
NATOÂ’S AFGHANISTAN MISSION IS IN TROUBLE
A senior European parliamentarian warned today (Tuesday) that NATOÂ’s
mission in Afghanistan could end in failure unless member states honoured
commitments they had already made to ensure its success.
Mr Bert Koenders, a member of the Dutch parliament, told a meeting of the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO-PA) the mission was in trouble but
could still be saved.
“The overall security situation has deteriorated significantly.
InsurgentsÂ’ attacks in the southern and eastern regions that border
Pakistan led this summer to be the bloodiest since the fall of the
Taliban,” he told a meeting of the NATO-PA’s Political
Committee.
“Moreover terrorist activities including suicide bombings which were
previously unseen in Afghanistan have increased significantly,” he added.
He noted that 3,700 people had been killed since January 2006 and that
although many of these were insurgents the “frequency of terrorist
attacks had increased four fold”.
Mr Koenders, one of the NATO-PAÂ’s two Vice-Presidents, called for all
NATO countries to meet in full all promised force contributions and to
make greater efforts to win “hearts and minds” with priority projects in
the areas of irrigation, roads and energy supplies.
Presenting a report to the committee entitled “Afghanistan and the Future
of the Alliance”, Mr Koenders concluded that the mission “is at a
critical stage. The Alliance can and must succeed. If we do not, we would
seriously fail the people of Afghanistan and undermine our unity of
purpose.”
Mr Koenders drew attention to the production and trafficking of opium in
the country which he said was a major concern and a threat to regional
stability. His report stated that this year the opium harvest would reach
some 6,100 tons, a record high representing an increase of 59 percent
over the previous year.
“Afghanistan’s 2006 harvest will be 92 percent of the total world supply.
Around the country, the number of people involved in opium production
increased by almost a third in 2006 to 2.9 million, representing some
12.6percent of the total population,” the report detailed.
Afghanistan dominated the opening day of the NATO-PAÂ’s annual session in
Quebec City which lasts until November 17. The issue is expected to
dominate a summit of NATO Heads of State and Government in Riga, Latvia
on November 28-29.
Ambassador Robert Hunter, a former US envoy to NATO and currently Senior
Advisor at the Rand Corporation, later told the same committee that the
alliance had gambled its future on Afghanistan and could not afford to
fail. “This mission has to succeed,” he declared.
For further information, please
contact
Jonathan Clayton: tel.: 418 561 1281
e-mail:
Press@nato-pa.int
NATO Parliamentary Assembly
International Secretariat
Place du Petit Sablon 3, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tél: (32) 2 513 28 65 | Fax: (32) 2 514 18 47 | website:
http://
www.nato-pa.int |