An Afghan pledge to take over national security by 2014 plays into the hands of Western supporters eager to pull their soldiers out of an unpopular war, but there are no guarantees of success.
Western leaders have welcomed the latest promises from Afghanistan to take responsibility for security, control spending of billions of dollars in aid and broker a peace process to end a nine-year Taliban insurgency.
Observers, however, said the true focus for the West is withdrawing their soldiers from of a war increasingly unpopular with voters who are tired of pouring their taxes into the country.
“Now the focus is very much on transition and donors being able to tell their voters when their soldiers are coming home,” said Ashley Jackson, head of policy and advocacy for Oxfam International in Afghanistan.
“I think this truly is the last strategy that will get this kind of backing from donors. Patience and support are running out,” she said.
Tuesday’s Kabul conference drew representatives from about 80 countries and organizations to endorse a proposal by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Afghan forces take over responsibility for national security by 2014.
Karzai also won a concession for the government to control within two years 50 percent of aid, up from the previous 20 percent. There was support too for his plan to talk peace with the Taliban, and possibly include them in government.
The conference decisions were hailed by US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron in Washington.
Obama said it was a “major step forward” for the future of Afghanistan while Cameron, who was in Washington, described 2014 as a “realistic” timeframe.
Benchmarks for Afghanistan’s progress on pledges were set by the international community, but there were no sanctions in case they are not met, officials and diplomats said. However, no such safeguards apply to targets for building up the army and police to take over from foreign troops, though the timetable is punishingly fast and has been widely criticized as aiming for quantity not quality.
Meanwhile, Cameron said yesterday that Britain could start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan as early as next year.
“The faster we can transition districts and provinces to Afghan control, clearly the faster that some forces can be brought home,” he said told BBC Radio 5 Live.
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