Thomas West (left) with Daniel Runde - Phil Pasquini

 

US Special Representative Thomas West Provides Updates on Afghanistan
By Elaine Pasquini

 Photo by Phil Pasquini

 

Washington: In a September 28 conversation with Daniel Runde, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Thomas West, US State Department special representative and deputy assistant secretary for Afghanistan, articulated the United States’ overall objective in Afghanistan since US troops withdrew 14 months ago and the Taliban took control.

“We wish to see and to support the emergence of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan that never again harbors terrorist threats to the United States, our allies or any other countries, and in which the rights of all its people – women and men, boys and girls – are upheld,” the diplomat stated.

Today, over half of the country’s 41 million people require emergency humanitarian assistance which is a top priority of the United States, which has stepped up its aid, he said, announcing the contribution of an additional $327 million in humanitarian assistance which brings the US total contribution since August 2021 to over $1.1 billion.

In order to stabilize the economy, in February of this year the US Treasury Office issued General License 20 which encourages legitimate economic activity for companies that want to do business in Afghanistan. “The business environment in Afghanistan is unbelievably challenging,” West said. “But the general licenses that we have passed certainly encourage companies to engage in licit economic activity.”

Last month, in coordination with international partners, the US launched the Afghan Fund. “I think it’s incredibly important for the United States to be transparent with the Afghan people and with those who care about the stability of the Afghan economy, about the purpose of this fund, its governance, any potential uses,” West said.

While the US does not formally “recognize” the Taliban government, it does have “dealings” with them, he noted, and one difficulty is that the Taliban government “is not moving with alacrity or responsibility on economic decisions in the manner in which we certainly hoped that they would.” 

Another problematic situation is that women and girls are being “systematically erased” in society. “They’re not able to work, by and large, throughout the country, to participate in the political life of Afghanistan,” West lamented. “They don’t have a seat at the table, as they should.” Not only is this a human rights issue, this is an economic imperative. “If women are allowed to work in Afghanistan, they will contribute over a billion dollars to the economy,” he added.

Polls show that more than 90 percent of the country call for girls to return to secondary school and for women to return to work. “Even within the Taliban I think the majority would like to see their daughters educated,” West noted.

“We have seen in a couple provinces…some courageous Afghans who have stood up and called for their daughters to be educated, called for women to return to work,” he explained. “And I think that Afghans have…the most leverage over the Taliban now. And I’m hopeful that the Taliban will begin to heed those calls.”

Pointing out that Afghanistan has receded from the newspapers, Runde stated that “while we may not be interested in Afghanistan in Washington as much as I’d like us to be, I think Afghanistan may be interested in us and may come back to reach out and touch us in ways we don’t like.”

Runde also referred to the success of Bangladesh which is on its way to becoming an upper middle-income country. “And one of the reasons is that they’ve invested in women and girls, and if you look at the level of education of women and girls in Bangladesh, it’s the highest in South Asia,” he said. “What strikes me is there’s a direct correlation to the success of Bangladesh and the investment of women and girls. So, if Afghanistan wants to be a real country, like Bangladesh is now a real country, they would do those sorts of things.”

West acknowledged that there is only so much the US and the international community can do for Afghanistan. Emerging from 44 years of conflict – an unprovoked Russian invasion in 1979 and a horrific civil war, “they’re going to have to find their own path,” he stated. “But it will be a combination of some of the systems within the region and hopefully lesser and lesser aid dependence.”

In closing, Runde, who is passionate about girls’ education, reiterated the importance of girls being allowed to attend secondary school and of women participating fully in the economy. “I think real countries allow all the people in their society to fully participate in education and work,” he asserted, “and Afghanistan is not going to be a real country until that happens.”

(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)