"If Afghans are given the opportunity, they are not going to fight forever with each other, but they will rather find a solution which will be acceptable for everybody or for [a] majority of the country," said the foreign minister of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, at a New Atlantic Initiative Strategic Forum at AEI on July 24.

Despite this basic optimism, Abdullah saw immense challenges ahead for the country, which has suffered under twenty-three years of strife. To outline the type of difficulties Afghans face, Abdullah described the area north of Kabul, which he recently visited: "A single room was not standing. The vineyards, the orchards, the gardens were burned down, bulldozed." With the people suffering, "have we been able to provide them with tents? No. Have we been able to demine the areas? Have we been able to restore the irrigation channels for drinking water? Have we been able to start medical facilities? No." The government faces enormous social welfare tasks such as housing and feeding more than 1 million refugees and building schools for 2 million students.

To begin to solve problems such as illiteracy, poverty, and hunger, as well as lawlessness outside of Kabul, Abdullah outlined three main priorities for the interim government: security, creation of an effective government administration, and reconstruction. He focused on security as one of the greatest challenges Afghanistan faces today, one necessary for its reconstruction. "What about the security forces?" Abdullah asked. "Are they being paid? Are they being fed? No. What are you expecting talking about security in such a situation?"

To solve security problems in a nation where 700,000 people are armed, Afghanistan requires an effective police force, national army, and judiciary. The foreign minister appealed to the coalition forces and international community for help, while stressing the vitality of this issue. "We cannot afford to lose," he said.

In the face of such challenges, Afghanistan needs more help from the international community. Last year at the signing of the United Nations Agreement on Provisional Arrangements "in Bonn, the international community made commitments," Abdullah said. "How much of those commitments are met? Very little."

Abdullah said that only about one-third of the aid promised for this year had been received. Moreover, the overwhelming proportion of aid has been for humanitarian purposes. Abdullah stressed that while this aid is indispensable, the only way to solve the security problem and prepare Afghanistan for the future is for the international community to provide more reconstruction aid. In the past six months, the country has received just $40 million for reconstruction projects. Because of the scarcity of reconstruction assistance, not one labor-intensive project has been created.

Despite these difficulties, Abdullah saw hope because of the tenacity of the Afghan people. "Talking about all these problems, the good news is . . . that Afghanistan is not a country which will rely on foreign aid forever. From the nature of its people, from the potentials which are there, from the resources point of view, geographical point of view, the sort of entrepreneurial nature of the people there, Afghanistan will not be a country, if it is given the slightest opportunity, which will rely on foreign aid forever. But the treatment so far is like a humanitarian case, which I think has to change. . . . The country is running. The hope is there. The people are working hard. The transitional government is working hard to change the situation." Yet what Afghanistan still needs is a greater contribution from the international community.

Radek Sikorski, executive director of the New Atlantic Initiative, and a journalist who covered the Afghan-Soviet war in the 1980s, said: "Dr. Abdullah is not a man who exaggerates. So when we hear about how desperate the situation is, let me assure you it really is desperate. . . . For our own sake we should do what we can to rebuild that country, or else the miracle that we now have of Afghans wanting to live together in peace may not last forever. We have lost Afghanistan twice before. Let us not lose Afghanistan for the third time."