Recent Media Tour to Afghanistan

3:00 pm (EST)

Real Audio of Briefing

MR. DENIG: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Foreign Press Center. My name is Paul Denig. I'm the Director of the Washington Foreign Press Center and I'm delighted to be able to introduce to you today my colleague from the Los Angeles Foreign Press Center, Mr. Haider Karzai, for this briefing on Afghanistan.

Mr. Karzai has just recently returned from a three-week trip to Afghanistan. He accompanied a team of Department of State writers and TV documentary filmmakers on a media tour to various locations within Afghanistan.

I've asked Mr. Karzai to share with us today some of his observations, both on the conditions in the country and on the extent and impact of U.S. and coalition assistance and development efforts in Afghanistan. He'll have an opening statement he'll make and then he'll be glad to take your questions.

Haider?

MR. KARZAI: Thank you all for coming. I went to the place of my birth and I found the country devastated. Seeing is one thing and hearing is another thing.

Afghans are trying to survive. They have had some 23-24 years of very harsh life and warfare. Their infrastructure is totally gone. Coalition forces are there and Afghans are -- from my talks with them -- very pleased with them because the Afghans also know that this is their last chance, and Afghans, themselves, with the help of the coalition forces and by coalition countries, I think, are committed to the rebuilding of their homeland.

The United States and coalition countries are doing a lot, actually, both inside Kabul and when you go to the countryside, to other provinces. But a lot needs to be done and the Afghans know that. And I think I found that their patience is as long as it takes and as long as the international community is committed to its effort to help that country and stabilize that country, and they appreciate the international community’s commitment.

That's all I have to say, and if there are any questions, I would be delighted to answer.

MR. DENIG: Use the microphone, please, if you would. Thanks.

QUESTION: I'm Chakrabarti from the Indian Public Broadcasting here. I am curious to know about the progress of the development of the national police force and -- which was to be, to build up -- which will ultimately succeed the coalition forces, and how is it being built up?

MR. KARZAI: Well, I will just give you my observation. I did not speak with anybody from the government in charge of that effort, but I did see new police cars donated by Germany. I think the police force is being trained specifically by the Germans because they have had a long history of training of that force. I did see them -- actually we were going through through town and they had a meeting in a restaurant and I saw all these brand new cars and these uniformed police officers, which is very helpful to the Afghans because they are their own Afghans and it's a professional force which they have not had in a long time. So people were very happy about it.

QUESTION: No, actually, I would request you to reflect on the kind of ethnic composition which is being made -- a little more detail about the formation of the police force and how is it -- because some (inaudible) countries have made some observations that the Pushtun, you know, ethnic communities should be there, you know, in terms of the proportion of the population, the Pushtuns over here, you know. This point, if you could elaborate how these things are being tackled?

MR. KARZAI: Yes. When I saw them, I heard Pushtu and I heard Farsi. And, as an Afghan, to be honest with you, I think it's time for Afghanistan that we do leave this ethnic division aside and I, as an Afghan-American in a multi-cultural society here, I concluded that some of stories about inter-ethnic tensions have been exaggerated. But hopefully, we will treat Afghanistan as one Afghan. And that's as far as I'll go on my comments about any ethnic division in that country.

QUESTION: Seiko Ken, Kyodo News, Japanese News Wire Service. You said the country is devastated, but can you give us your observation and assessment of progress or improvements of reconstruction efforts?

MR. KARZAI: Yes. By devastated I mean, you know, the infrastructure is gone. But you can see buildings are built and NGOs are active. Donor countries are active and wherever we went, schools were being built. For example, the Germans, the French, they have rebuilt their high schools in Kabul and they are in very good shape, which did not exist a year and a half ago.

India is helping. I saw Afghan construction workers working on buildings around Kabul and we traveled to Mazar-i Sharif, we traveled to Kunar Province. Outside of Kabul, dams are being built by the United States. Drinking water, purification systems are being built. And that's why it’s more important for reporters to go outside of Kabul City so that you can see our civilian force, you can see USAID having a lot of projects going on which, I'm afraid to say, are underreported because reporters have this tendency to get controversial stuff. But roads are being built and the Kabul-Kandahar Road, which we visited, in about a month and a half, once the harsh winter is over, will show great progress; they have the contractors ready, bulldozers were on the road, that's my eyewitness account. And when the villagers -- we met with the villagers and they were very happy about it and they said the work will start mid-Spring. The contractor was there. Afghans are very hopeful, what I would describe them as hopeful and -- if I can try and say this properly -- expectant. They are expecting things, but they also have realized that it is their country. The international community will help, but they have to do the rebuilding for the fullest commitment to their future. I saw that from talking to people, from a simple shopkeeper to a taxi driver to the merchants, so you have that sense and that feeling from it.

QUESTION: My name is Ivanov Lebedev. I'm with Russian News Agency - TASS, and my question is, according to the last report published by the State Department earlier this month, the production of drugs in Afghanistan during the last year, I think, and anyway, after the elimination of the Taliban regime, increased dramatically. There are several reasons for that and everyone understands quite well that administration of Hamid Karzai is not to blame for that because they are in desperate, and the stalks of opium left by the Taliban regime was very deep and they began to be distributed and now the government, unfortunately, cannot provide anything to the local people, to the farmers who grew opium poppy for years, and they can't provide something instead of them for they are leaving and it's a very difficult problem. But my question is, can you share with us any ideas what the government is going to do to address this problem?

MR. KARZAI: Unfortunately, I didn't go to the parts of Afghanistan due to the weather and being a difficult winter where poppy is a major product. But I did hear from the international people whom I met that there is a strong international commitment for alternative agriculture. And the Karzai Government has started a year ago offering cash to the farmers to change their crop from poppy to other agricultural stuff. But it is also basically a problem that the country has gone through a very severe drought in the past three-and-a-half, four years. You have to also take that into consideration. And these people, the farmers, which have these poppies as a primary source of income. It takes very little water to do the planting, rather than having wheat or any other agricultural product.

But I think it's a transitional problem and I think it will go away because Afghans realize that in order to have the country rebuilt, that would be a condition from the international community because of its very negative effects. And they realize that.

MR. DENIG: Yes.

QUESTION: My name is Nayyar Zaidi and I am from Daily Jang in Pakistan. I'm sorry I was a little late, so I missed your opening remarks.

While we are talking of poppy, I want to ask a question. You know, U.S. has been buying food stocks from its own farmers and dumping them in the sea just to compensate them. It's paying the Russia scientists so they don't go to, you know, rogue countries. Why, in the short-term the U.S. simply doesn't buy all the poppy crop, whatever there is, and pay them whatever the drug lords are paying them, and I think that will save you, probably, lot of money on drug enforcement.

I think we are spending a lot of money in Afghanistan and then back here. So why this alternative is not -- because, you know, growing alternative crops is, you know, they have a ready buyer for this. And as you said, it takes very little to do it. And they have ready buyers. Alternative crops, who buys, who doesn't, you know, you never know.

So for the short-term, why this solution has not been looked at?

MR. KARZAI: To be honest with you, sir, I think I'm the wrong person to be asked. It will be an expert from my government here in the United States if you can address that question.

QUESTION: Have you asked the United States?

MR. KARZAI: No. I have not.

QUESTION: Okay. All right. Sorry. That question didn't work.

(Laughter.)

Okay, then maybe you covered it in the opening remarks, but what are the major hurdles in getting the money from donor countries for rebuilding of Afghanistan, which was, I'm talking to $15 billion committed two years ago?

MR. KARZAI: I think the money is going into Afghanistan.

QUESTION: Okay. So --

MR. KARZAI: I think projects are underway. If you are talking a big bulk of things for international investment, that would take time if you -- it's a year and a half only --

QUESTION: Sure.

MR. KARZAI: And Afghans have now tasted freedom in their homeland; they are looking forward to things. They are patient and I think the commitment from the international community and the United States is there. They will save the life of the country and they will help to reconstruct the country.

So, what I've found was this patience on the part of the Afghans. But to say that the money has not gone to Afghanistan, that would be an incorrect statement because projects are going on.

MR. DENIG: Yes. We'll get a microphone over to you.

QUESTION: I apologize that I'm late so if this question was already addressed, just tell me. How well do you think you could apply --

MR. DENIG: I'm sorry. Could you introduce yourself, too, please?

QUESTION: Margery Freisner from Agencia ANSA, the Italian News Agency. Are there any lessons or -- to be learned and applied from the transition to democracy from Taliban to democratic government in Afghan for Iraq for the post-war, post-war Iraq?

MR. KARZAI: I can comment on the first part of your question. I think Afghans have begun a transitional period. They've had 23 years of warfare, which would devastate any country, and the sufferings they have gone through. Now they are tasting the freedom that is there. People are free to choose, and, from the radio programs that I listen to, the Karzai Government is committed to that freedom. But again, I would emphasize it will not be an overnight thing. And that's the reality in Afghanistan.

It will come gradually, and I think by the fall of this year, you will have the ratification of the Afghan constitution, which will be big news. I mean people are really looking forward to this -- that would be the first time since 1964 that our country will have a constitution, which would guarantee their rights. They are looking forward to participating in the political life and social life of their country. That was the mood.

QUESTION: (Inaudible).

MR. KARZAI: To -- I don't think I got the second part, but I don't --

QUESTION: No. The transition from, in the case of Afghanistan, like you said, 23 years of war or -- and Taliban rule to a democratic system.

MR. KARZAI: Right.

QUESTION: Do you think that you have any lessons that could be learnt for the Iraq situation after the probable war?

MR. KARZAI: Well, if I were an Iraqi, I would really look at Afghanistan. I would take an Iraqi to Afghanistan to see those people being liberated and how it feels to be liberated from a dictatorship, I would personally take them and say, "Okay, this guy could not leave his house a year-and-a-half ago." Now, I saw our women participating in ministries, working as teachers, and that is a lesson for the Iraqis, and I think they would appreciate to be liberated as the Afghans do.

MR. DENIG: Haider, obviously it's one thing to have sort of formal structures such as a constitution, which is absolutely critical, but at the same time it's also important to have trained officials in various ministries, trained judges and so forth. Did you happen to talk to anyone about the training of judges or judicial officials or anything like that?

MR. KARZAI: I did not. But there is a lot of training going on -- people, groups of five, ten government officials are traveling abroad to various countries, and when I was there, I saw that India has taken the role of training Afghan pilots. And when I was there, President Karzai came on a Kurd plane to Afghanistan that was donated.

So in technical affairs there's a lot of training going on, and people are being (inaudible). But it is a new Afghanistan, if I can emphasize that. Since '78 they had guerillas come in the 70's, they had 40 years of peace before that. Now, again they are tasting and they have realized that this is the chance; and they are taking full advantage of it.

MR. DENIG: So could you almost speak about the unleashed energy and enthusiasm of the Afghan people?

MR. KARZAI: Yes. Yes. I would say they are a group of optimistic people, at least from the people I talked to. And they listen, and I'm very gentle when (inaudible) told me that, "Let's work together. The past is past." He was emphasizing that. It's a new beginning. We have been given this chance. And there's the United States, there's Europe and every country of the world has a passion and compassion for the Afghans, and I could feel that because everyone has realized their suffering.

MR. DENIG: Yes.

QUESTION: Nayyar Zaidi from Jang, Pakistan, again. I believe that President Karzai is going to Pakistan to attend the 23rd of March, which is the Republic Day, Pakistan Day celebrations. It was in the paper and that's good news, but coming back to the rebuilding of Afghanistan, of course there is capital and expatriate Afghans may be going back, but I think that you'll probably need a larger pool of technology manpower. Are there any plans to utilize, you know, manpower from Pakistan or Iran or neighboring countries?

MR. KARZAI: I think from their commitment to the rebuilding process, I think they have made commitments. I think your own country has made over $100 million in commitments to the rebuilding of Afghanistan, and I think those funds will come with outside expertise in order to be spent efficiently, and I think they will come with experts to train Afghans.

MR. DENIG: My understanding, Haider, is that different countries have taken a commitment to work on different sectors in terms of training and rebuilding. Is that true?
For example, one of our previous briefers mentioned that the Italian Government was especially paying attention to judiciary, and I think you mentioned India is taking care of pilots?

MR. KARZAI: Yeah. And Germans are taking care of the police force.

QUESTION: Police.

MR. KARZAI: The United States is involved in many projects through USAID and NGO directives. So I think as time goes by and Afghans are ready, themselves, you will see a lot of countries taking care of different sectors. And the medical school is French, for example. And the United States was funding the magazine Mirror, and at least how many names did I find on the board that were supporting the free press in Afghanistan, establishing various magazines, women's magazines, newspapers and radio shows. For example, Britain is very, you know, started this "Good Morning, Afghanistan," with the help from the BBC and it is a hit with people in Kabul. I will emphasize that people should not expect a big jump such as, "Here is the $15 billion of the world, and here it is." And Afghans have to also be given time to get used to the new profits. You can't just simply give a billion dollars and say, "Here. Do it."

MR. DENIG: I remember being in eastern Germany shortly after Germany was unified and sometimes Westerners would ask me, well, how long will it take to change things in eastern Germany, or former Eastern Germany? I would usually say it will take a generation because that's the time it takes to change people's mentalities after they've been under dictatorship.

MR. KARZAI: Exactly, for a long period. And then you are talking about a country that is 90 percent destroyed, as in this case. The elite has denied it killed, or went 25 years ago with overkill: brain drain, et cetera. And then they went through phases -- they were under the communists; then the Soviets were there, then the Taliban. So they have gone through many phases and it will take time. That's my opinion.

MR. DENIG: Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Just one follow-up question. You mentioned the Germans are taking care of the police, because last roundtable we were told that law and order has been given to the best tutors in the world, the Italians. So --

MR. KARZAI: Judicial.

QUESTION: Judicial?

MR. KARZAI: Yes.

QUESTION: Okay, not police enforcement?

MR. KARZAI: No. Traditionally, Afghans, if you go back in history, during the king’s time, during Daud's time, the Germans always trained the Afghan police officers. I have a relative who was trained in West Germany in the 50s. So when the chance for Afghans came again, Germans were ready to go and donate cars. And if you see, those are all Volkswagen cars.

But also, you have to look -- really, as an Afghan-American, I am thankful to the world community. People do care about Afghans, and sometimes more than maybe Afghans would care about each other. I found in NGO representatives, foreign governments and organizations, in anybody I saw, that they have this compassion for the Afghans because they do share their suffering.

QUESTION: There is "silence of the lambs" here. (Laughter.)

Is there, is the Afghan Government has taken up the subject with the United States: there was a lot of ecological damage due to heaving bombing of mountains and other areas -- massive bombing, which, probably -- and, of course, they didn't buy -- they didn't find Usama bin Laden, so is there any talk of repairing the ecological damage or having environmental programs also in Afghanistan? Because I thing the aftereffects, as I have heard, are severe.

MR. HARZAI: Again, I would refer to the experts, you know, within the U.S. Government. But --

QUESTION: (Inaudible).

MR. KARZAI: I am not privy to that.

QUESTION: Did you notice any environmental damage while you were there?

MR. KARZAI: Nothing that I did not expect after 25 years of war.

MR. DENIG: Right. I suppose just looking at it, it would be difficult to tell whether some bombing did it or the Taliban or the Soviet tanks or whatever --

MR. KARZAI: Exactly. I have to say that I don't think that the two weeks, three weeks of aerial bombing did that much of a damage as the 23 years of natural disasters and man-made disasters in that country. So you can't just say that the U.S. bombing created some ecological stuff. That's --

MR. DENIG: Certainly, judging by the television pictures, the bombing did not take place in green garden areas.

MR. KARZAI: No. The hideouts.

MR. DENIG: Any other final questions?

QUESTION: How is he, how frequently is reacting or interacting with the Karzai Government? I mean, his role is that of a consultant or something like that or -- how does the interaction, is there any formal interactions that takes place?

MR. KARZAI: We concentrated on going around the country on different economic projects so I would be the wrong person to answer that.

MR. DENIG: Maybe, Haider, you could comment on the extent to which the media is free or not free and also the question of journalism training?

MR. KARZAI: I saw newspapers. When we were staying at Bagram, I had the privilege of meeting Afghan journalists from an east newspaper and Afghans were reporting for the Afghan radio. I think the international wire services have Afghan staffers, a good majority of them, and those staffers then go to the Afghans and tell them this is how free journalistic work is done. I heard a debate within the tents in which we were staying between the Afghan journalists, which is to me an indication of an opening of the doors for the Afghans. But, yes, little kids are selling all kinds of newspapers and magazines and they run after you.

MR. DENIG: And is the funding for any of the Afghan media coming from Afghan exiles, people who have come to the West and are now successful business people? Or is all the funding coming from local people?

MR. KARZAI: No, the funding I don't think comes from local people. I think it's shared by the Government of Afghanistan. And NGOs from various countries are very involved in this (inaudible) at the press conference, you know. They are donating money. For example, I heard that France was working on this old printing facility and they are refurbishing it.

MR. DENIG: In terms of the three types of news media and the relative importance that they have in getting the news to the Afghan people -- print, radio, and television -- which is the most important?

MR. KARZAI: I would say 90 percent of them listen to the radio. Radio is the medium for Afghanistan because you have a country where the literacy rate is very high.

QUESTION: The illiteracy rate?

MR. KARZAI: Illiteracy. Yes. And radio, listening to the radio is the easiest medium -- a short-wave radio. And I think I heard various programs from the Voice of America, BBC, and radio Azadi, and also Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe -- and 24 hours on FM, which is the best source of information.

MR. DENIG: Any other questions?

QUESTION: Steve Kaufman with The Washington File. I'm wondering. The women that you managed to meet and talk to in Afghanistan, if you can share some of their thoughts, their -- any lingering concerns that they still have for the future or their attitude in this post-Taliban Afghanistan?

MR. KARZAI: Yes. Well, I saw many women on the streets. That was a good sign. But I was able to talk to three or four women. And one striking meeting was in Mazar-i Sharif. We were at the airport and we met this young lady Afghan, educated. During theTaliban she could not continue her education at the medical school in Mazar-i Sharif. She was enthusiastically telling me that she's going back to the medical school.

Their one concern is that they want the weaponry to go away -- whoever carries guns -- women really don't like it. But they were hopeful that the international community is committed enough that there will be no longer be harm done to Afghan women. So I expected to have to explain something out there, but it was against my expectations. They were all patient, so that was, to me, the biggest thing -- a good sign.

MR. DENIG: All right. Well, on that note of patience on the part of the Afghans and the commitment of the international community to the development of the country, we'll thank you very much.

MR. KARZAI: You're welcome.

MR. DENIG: And thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

MR. KARZAI: Thank you for having me.