Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-08-Speech-2-062"
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"en.20080708.5.2-062"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Jouyet, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday in Kabul saw the bloodiest attack since 2001 with more than 40 Afghans and Indians killed and 140 injured. We wish to extend our deepest sympathy to the victims and express our outrage at the murderers who were responsible.
With this report the European Parliament is calling for a new strategy for the international community and for the Afghan Government that has as its central focus the rebuilding of civil society. This is the policy being promoted by the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Kai Eide. This is a most important move and I am pleased that we in this House have sent out such a signal.
I should like to express my thanks to my colleagues from the other political groups, to the Commission – and Commissioner you have a wonderful team in Kabul and in Brussels dealing with the Afghanistan problem – and to the Council’s Special Representative, as well as to the many Afghan and international NGOs that have been involved.
I must therefore say that this makes it all the more difficult for me to have to withdraw my name from the report. I was unable to persuade a majority that the problems of Afghanistan cannot be solved by military means. If a majority in this House should now then call for troop levels to be strengthened and in so doing ignore the national reservations of the Member States, this would defeat the real issues raised in the report and would run counter to my own personal concerns. The fact that the majority wishes of all the peoples of Europe should be disregarded is unacceptable for Afghanistan – the events of recent days bear this out – and is absolutely the wrong policy.
Those who follow the European media and those who, for example, have read today’s edition of
will know that violence in Afghanistan has now become much more widespread and commonplace. Teachers are being shot practically every day, which is one of the most cynical aspects of the Taliban strategy. Schools, and especially girls’ schools, are being burnt down or forced to close, bridges and roads are being blown up. What was not reported in Europe was the attack by the US-led coalition forces on a wedding party in the province of Nangarhar on Sunday that left 23 people dead, including the bride. A similar incident also occurred in the neighbouring province of Urusgan. President Karsai has now ordered an investigation.
It is clear that the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated in the last three years. However, there are many distinctly positive developments to be considered too: advances in education and health policy, regional success in the rebuilding programme and in the eradication of drugs, the creation of a critical and independent media thanks to a number of incredibly courageous journalists, and the establishment in many areas of an active civil society along with spirited women’s organisations.
However, there are also negative aspects to report, such as the fact that the growing of opium poppies has now reached record levels nationwide and that this crop has become increasingly linked to the general economy as well as to the escalating levels of crime and corruption and to the activities of the insurgent groups.
The international food crisis has had dramatic consequences for millions of Afghans. Corruption is widespread in government circles and indeed originates from this source. The rule of law is not properly established and can be compared with Guantanamo or the US prison in Bagram, as well as being fundamentally questioned by international governments.
Fundamentalist ideologies have clearly been gaining ground in recent years, even in key areas of government and parliament, and this poses a threat to the freedom of the press and media and, more particularly, to the hopes of Afghan women and girls for an equal role in society.
The terrible violence being committed every day against women and girls on a domestic, family and local level is for me still the most serious and glaring problem and one that is most being ignored by our media. It pains me that due to lack of time I am unable to go into this in any more detail. Afghanistan and its people have deserved our fullest commitment. After 30 years of war, with more than one and a half million people killed, the international community is duty-bound to show its full solidarity with Afghanistan.
The country and its society have been destroyed by the policies and war of occupation waged by the Soviet Union, by the internal warfare of the Mujahedeen groups who were armed by the US, Pakistan, Iran and other countries, and by the sinister rule of the Taliban.
Our report presents a discriminating and realistic picture. It recognises the significant successes of the Afghan people and identifies the political shortcomings of the Afghan and other international governments. It expresses our fullest support and makes clear that we are absolutely committed to establishing democracy and human rights, especially the rights of Afghan women and children. This is not only a matter of general principle but also a specific requirement as far as Malalai Dschoja, Pervez Kambasch and Latif Petram are concerned."@en1
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"Daily Outlook Afghanistan"1
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