Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“The top U.S. commander in the Middle East estimates that additional U.S. troops could arrive in Afghanistan within days or weeks, but, according to several U.S. officials, Defense Secretary James Mattis has yet to sign any orders to deploy more forces and is reviewing the Pentagon‘s earlier force recommendation.” ABC News.
Below is an interview with Dr. Mohib upon his arrival as Ambassador of Afghanistan. The article was first published in July of 2016.
“One of the beauties of democracy is that new ideas come to surface and new administrations come in and have different focuses and different priorities,” Afghanistan’s Ambassador Dr. Hamdullah Mohib said in response to a question posed by Hollywood on the Potomac as to how things have changed for the people of Afghanistan as well as the relationship with the United States since Ashraf Ghani took over as President. “The priority of this current government, the National Unity Government, is making sure that Afghanistan becomes a self-reliant country, so we are increasing revenue – that’s a big focus for us. To do that, it means we’re not only finding new ways to bring new revenue, but making sure that we collect more taxes and more revenue from customs by introducing reforms – that includes anti-corruption measures and also introducing new systems to put in place so that the processes become faster to make it easier for people to make new investments that would encourage more and more trade in Afghanistan.” The occasion for the discussion was a dinner party in his honor hosted by Juleanna Glover and Ryan Wegman at Glover’s Kalorama residence in Washington, DC.
Dr. Hamdullah Mohib and Michael Pillsbury
“We are also focused on our security apparatus — enabling them to be able to fully control or to take full responsibility for Afghanistan,” he added. “This is an area where the United States has been a great help. The training and the assist operation towards our forces continues to be there, and that’s important while we transition because you have to understand that this is a new security force. It’s only about 12 years old. Even though our security forces and our main military have existed over 200 years, it was an organized military that was dismantled during the Civil War so the new apparatus or the new security we established only 12 years ago. It’s going to take time for it to mature and develop. It’s not just about the soldiers fighting on the front, it’s making sure that they have what they need to do so. It’s making sure that we have the medevac facilities and the intelligence available to all the people at the front line.”
We also asked about the 8,400 American troops recently authorized by President Obama to remain in the country through the end of his term: How has that been received and is it enough? “It was done based on an assessment that the US themselves conducted. General Campbell, who was leading the US Forces in Afghanistan, and now General Nicholson did an assessment of what is needed. We never talked to the US about the numbers. We never do. It’s not about how many. We are talking about policy. The United States and Afghanistan have a strategic security agreement in place. Our coordination in our discussions with them are on the strategic level on what is needed to make sure that our security forces have what they need and that we’re meeting our strategic objectives. We have shared goals and shared interests and shared threats to fight against. The decision made by the US is the internal process within; we do not interfere with that internal process. That was a decision that was made by the administration here and we are appreciative of the fact that they did it and I think it was a bold decision.”
Juleanna Glover with Michael & Susan Pillsbury
“It came at a very good time,” Dr. Mohib explained. “It gave the Afghan security forces and the Afghan people a boost of confidence to know that our international partners continue to be with us and in this fight against terrorism – that we’re not going to be left alone. If there were any doubt, that doubt has disappeared, or that doubt was addressed, at least. Now we’re working on making sure, like I said, that the focus of our government is on making sure that Afghanistan becomes self-reliant. That includes our security forces, so that we do not need continued assistance. They are becoming more and more independent. General Campbell, who used to lead the US efforts on security in Afghanistan as head of the Resolute Support Mission, reminded us when he was leaving that the Afghan military was 10 years old, and people forget that. Because they’ve been performing so well, people forget that it was only established 10 years ago. That is, I think, a credit to the training that we provided to our security forces but also the fact that the Afghans are extremely determined in making sure that we stand on our own two feet and that we take full control of that area.”
Kendall & John Tammy with Windsor Mann
Ambassador Mohib is extremely young (early 30-s) to be in such a prominent position considering Afghan political tradition, so we asked about his background. “First of all, I am thankful and honored by the leadership of Afghanistan to have entrusted me to such an important role. I don’t come from a big political family, so it’s not because of that. For them to have put trust in me and my capabilities to be able to take this important partnership forward is a big honor for me but also, Afghanistan is making a lot of progress. I was Deputy Chief of Staff to our President before this, and I worked with Dr. Ghani when he was a candidate in 2009 and I continued to work with him throughout this period. Like I said, I am honored by the trust they put in me, but also our country today which has very young demographic – 75% of the people are under the age of 35. We grew up in a war. We know the difficulties. I was born when the war had already started, so we have seen all the ups and downs. We have seen the error of war. We saw the civil war, we saw the oppression of the Soviets, we saw the Taliban and we continue to see the democratic phase. We have seen all of that and it defines our generation.”
Susan Pillsbury and Lael Mohib
“Our generation is not about what happened in the past,” he concluded, “but what we can do going forward. We’re equipped, we’re educated and we are determined to fix our country and we are determined to bring peace to our nation. We have seen far too much destruction in our country. That time has come to an end. There is a new generation of Afghans who are extremely determined and well equipped to make that happen. We have experienced everything in Afghanistan’s past and we have seen what war has done to our country. We don’t want that. The aim of my government is for Americans to interact with the new Afghanistan and understand how far we have come and where we are headed. That is more important. That’s the most important part, and that’s why I’m here.”
