A report by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg summarizes twenty years in Afghanistan. It was discussed at the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Riga on Wednesday. On the plus side, Stoltenberg emphasizes that the NATO operation shows the enormous strength the alliance has in achieving a common goal. But there are many critical remarks as well.
– REPORT: Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has written the evaluation report on Afghanistan, which was presented at the NATO meeting on Wednesday. Photo: NATO
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– We managed to fight al-Qaeda. We managed to prevent Afghanistan from being a marching area for international terrorism and that means a lot for security in Norway and other countries, says Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt to TV2.
Open debate
Norway already had a comprehensive evaluation of the Afghanistan operation in 2016, through a committee led by former Foreign Minister Bjørn Tore Godal (Labor).
Huitfeldt says she feels that the discussion has come further in Norway than in other countries, due to this evaluation.
– We fail to prevent the Taliban from gaining support. We are failing to build a stable Afghan state.
– How strong was the self-criticism from other countries?
– It was quite an open discussion, and it is necessary for NATO’s credibility, but there were different approaches.
The Afghanistan war was the first operation of its kind carried out by NATO. The invasion of Afghanistan was triggered by the terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001.
– SHARED EXPERIENCES: The mission in Afghanistan was partly successful and partly unsuccessful, according to both Norway and NATO. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
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Huitfeldt says it seems that at least some member states are more skeptical about carrying out a similar operation in the future. She points out that NATO failed to stop the Taliban, which received strong support as soon as NATO left the country.
– The threshold for using military force, it should be high, she says.
Huitfeldt believes it was right to use military force against ISIL, when the terrorist organization conquered areas in Syria and Iraq.
Norway has a responsibility
Huitfeldt said at the meeting that both Norway and other countries that participated militarily in Afghanistan have a great responsibility going forward.
– This will be a humanitarian catastrophe, ie 97% of the population can end up in the poverty line, so I appealed that we should both hold the Taliban responsible for monitoring how they treat women, how they treat their own population, but also ensure that help comes to the people.
– How will Norway relate to the Taliban in the future?
– We will do it in cooperation with other countries. We have a dialogue when it comes to getting assistance. Now it’s about seeing how they treat women, but we do not have contact through official channels, and we will not do it on our own, we would do it in cooperation with other countries if it became relevant.
In Stoltenberg’s report, he writes that in future operations, NATO must:
Neye assess the political and cultural conditions in the country.
Assess their strategic interests and be on guard against the dangers of expanding an operation.
Assess the opportunity for the country to benefit from training and building forces.
Try to avoid taking on obligations that go far beyond the original tasks.
Establish realistic and achievable goals and collaborate more with other international organizations that are better suited to solve non-military tasks.
– SELF-SEARCHING: Stoltenberg presented a self-critical report to NATO member countries. Photo: NATO
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