Afghan ambassador says country has a long way to go to rebuild

MEDFORD, Mass. -- Introduced as a man with "one of the most difficult jobs in the world of diplomacy," Haron Amin, Charge d'Affaire of the Afghan Embassy, spoke to Tufts University students in Cabot last Friday about how the war-torn country should be rebuilt. Amin focused on security, education, and international cooperation at a discussion sponsored by the Fletcher School's Program in Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization. \nAmin focused specifically on the current government's plans to rebuild Afghanistan over the next 10 years, emphasizing that because the nation has seen civil unrest over the past 23 years, improved security is a main goal. Improvements would allow women to walk around in public without fear, and would ensure a cleaner elections process. \nThere are numerous obstacles, however, to instituting law and order in a country without an effective police force. Afghanistan lacks a national army, and has scarce physical and financial resources. In order to assist the administration, some European countries, along with the United States, are currently helping train police forces and army personnel to work in Afghanistan. \nAmin also said that the nation could not develop without educated citizens. For that reason, the government hopes to bring a group of Afghan students from the undergraduate level to the Ph.D. level. An admissions test to attend higher university is in place, and the government is trying to arrange scholarships to study abroad for qualified students. \nIn addition to higher educational services, grade school education will also be reinstated -- on March 1, more than one million students will go back to school. This will prove particularly meaningful for female students, who were deprived of education under Taliban rule. \nBut rebuilding the national educational system will also be difficult, Amin said. He spoke briefly about the destruction of many school buildings during the latest conflict. Some of these damaged buildings are windowless, with plastic serving as a temporary replacement, often leaving classrooms bitterly cold. \nThe third key to rebuilding Afghanistan, according to Amin, is to provide a solid ground for the country to cooperate with the international community. The Afghan administration wants to avoid the "clash of civilizations," a phrase coined by Harvard University professor Samuel Huntington. Rather than being ideological and economical, Huntington said that new conflicts will be based on cultural factors and differences. More specifically, the fault line will occur between Islamic civilizations and non-Islamic civilizations. \nThis belief, explained Amin, is held by many Islamic fundamentalists, including Osama bin Laden. But Amin disagreed that Islamic and Western civilizations are destined to clash. He said that in order to eradicate such beliefs, and in order to prevent fundamentalists such as bin Laden from striking again, civilizations must learn to co-exist and work with one another. Afghanistan will be a "litmus test," according to Amin. \nIn addition to addressing the rebuilding of Afghanistan, Amin discussed human rights' violations, the integration of ex-Taliban members, and relations with Afghanistan's neighbors. \nAmin's thoughts on how to handle human rights violators, crimes of war, and crimes against humanity echo his thoughts on how to handle members of the Taliban. The foundations of country and government must be established first before these violators can be brought to justice, he said. \nAmin said he hopes his neighbors understand that Afghanistan wants to establish good relations, and added that he hopes Afghanistan's neighbors do not feel threatened by the presence of the international community, and particularly the presence of the United States in Afghanistan.