2006年VOA标准英语-Dispute Over Reform Agenda for Afghanistan

（单词翻译）

By George Dwyer
Washington, DC
26 September 2006
 
watch Afghan Crisis Group report

 
War-torn Afghanistan
The Washington D.C.-based International Crisis Group works to resolve violent struggle around the world and help regions recover afterward¹. It dispatches highly trained conflict analysts² to the scene and designs practical conflict resolution strategies based on their findings. But as VOA's George Dwyer reports, not everyone is supportive of the reforms the group has proposed.

After the chaos³ of war comes the arduous⁴ task of rebuilding a nation in ruins. In the case of Afghanistan, a Washington-based group called the I.C.G. -- International Crisis Group -- has been assisting with technical expertise⁵ on post-conflict reconstruction⁶.

 
Mark Schneider
Mark Schneider is senior vice⁷ president at the I.C.G. and an expert on post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan. He says the ultimate goal is to seek, build and sustain peace. "We hope what we contribute to is a peace-building process in which -- in a post-conflict situation -- the institutions are built that sustain peace.

Everybody agrees that it is essential to help Afghanistan recover, establish a functioning state, establish a government that responds to the needs of the people, begin to deal with the underlying⁸ problems of poverty."

But not everyone agrees about how that should be done. Some believe the success of the Afghan insurgency⁹ is due to the support it receives from native Afghans. Many Afghans believe outsiders should not be imposing¹⁰ fundamental reforms on their society. Some poppy farmers -- and the heroin¹¹ dealers¹² they supply -- reject the I.C.G.'s suggestion that they stop growing and trading that crop.

 
Mohammad Ayaz
Author and cleric Mohammad Ayaz has studied the problem. "Those people (the multinational¹³ forces) who are in Afghanistan who want to have a good relationship with Afghanistan, and want to help Afghanistan, and want to help with the reconstruction of Afghanistan, they must understand that the Afghan nation wants something else."

Ayaz says Afghans want to maintain age-old customs. And many Afghans are particularly concerned about how western style reforms might undermine their religious traditions. "The Afghan nation is a Muslim nation. Islam is actually mixed in the blood of Afghans. The associations, and N.G.O.s (non-governmental organizations) and international forces in Afghanistan, if these people are here to convert the Afghans to other religions, if they are here to support these things then they don't have any place in Afghanistan. They must go."

I.C.G. says it has no religious agenda and no political axe¹⁴ to grind.

It claims its reform proposals are based on past successes. I.C.G. is proposing a sustained financial and political commitment to Afghanistan from both the international community and the Afghan government.

I.C.G.'s Schneider points to specific reforms in four major areas. "If you look at any post-conflict situation you really talk about security. You look at an effort to establish a functioning and effective government.  You talk about restarting an economy that can be sustaining. And you talk about rule of law."

Schneider says several things stand in the way of those needed reforms. Corruption¹⁶ -- both within and outside the government; the continued presence of armed militias¹⁷; and the legions of insurgents¹⁸ intent on reversing the country's newfound freedoms.

"We have urged that the degree of local government and local community structures be strengthened," says Schneider.  "And we have urged strongly that as part of the effort to establish new police forces and new judicial¹⁹ systems that it is essential to get rid of corrupt¹⁵ officials. Those kinds of policy recommendations, we are convinced, if adopted, would go a long way to reducing the threat of conflict, and reducing the insurgency's capability²⁰ to maintain itself."

But successfully negotiating long-standing religious and cultural conflicts is a tremendous challenge for reconstruction policy planners. If that can be achieved, clearing away the rubble²¹ is often relatively²² easy.