Gouttierre says that while 90 percent of the Afghan people really like the United States, the lack of a focused approach in trying to stabilize the country has caused the U.S. to lose support there. Schools built just a few years ago are already crumbling, the speaker said. Still, he said more students are attending schools in the country than ever before. He also said that overall the Afghan people are better off today than they were under the oppressive Taliban rule, but their confidence in the United States has eroded. Winning back the people will take lots of time and energy, Gouttierre said. He believes community-based reconstruction programs are the key to improvement, but he sees no short-term solutions. Although only about 25 percent of the people are literate, Gouttierre said Afghanistan is a culturally rich country that has been involved in globalization, albeit at a slower pace than is now occurring, dating back to the Silk Road from China to Egypt that existed centuries ago. “It’s been in the crossroads of a lot of activity,” the speaker said. Thomas Gouttierre, dean of International Studies and Programs and director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan in the 1960's.
Thomas Gouttierre says Afghans' confidence in U.S. is eroding
Afghans' confidence in U.S. is eroding, expert says
By CON MARSHALL Friday, May 08, 2009
The American who may know as much as anyone about Afghanistan told an audience at Chadron State College on Thursday night that while 90 percent of the Afghan people really like the United States, the lack of a focused approach in trying to stabilize the country has caused the U.S. to lose support there.
Thomas Gouttierre is dean of international studies and director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He and his wife lived in Afghanistan for nearly 10 years beginning in 1964. They were initially members of the Peace Corps. Then he received a Fulbright Fellowship and eventually headed the Fulbright Foundation there.
Gouttierre also returned to Afghanistan in 1996-97 as a member of the United Nations Special Mission, and he has been in contact with the country and its leaders ever since. Hundreds of Afghan teachers have been trained through the program he heads at UNO.
Gouttierre, who has testified before U.S. Congressional and British Parliament committees on international relations and frequently is interviewed by the national media, said the Afghan people know that if the U.S. effort in their country fails they are in trouble.
Gouttierre said after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the Taliban was removed from power in Afghanistan later that year, the United States’ efforts there were well-intentioned, but there was a lack of coordination and progress. He said the U.S. invited partners to join in the rebuilding of Afghanistan through what he called “a donor conference process.”
Widespread corruption took place among the contractors who were recruited and the Afghan people lost faith in the process.
Schools built just a few years ago are already crumbling, the speaker said. Still, he said more students are attending schools in the country than ever before. He also said that overall the Afghan people are better off today than they were under the oppressive Taliban rule, but their confidence in the United States has eroded.
Winning back the people will take lots of time and energy, Gouttierre said. He believes community-based reconstruction programs are the key to improvement, but he sees no short-term solutions.
“We need to let them manage things themselves, and then work with them,” he said. He predicted it will likely take at least five years of concerted effort to turn things around. “I’m not sure we’re willing to take that long,” he added.
Gouttierre said the Afghan people have a democratic history, believe in it and basically just want an opportunity to succeed.
Success in Afghanistan is important, Gouttierre said, because it would help stabilize the entire region and serve as an example of what can be done.
Gouttierre said he believes President Obama did the right thing in reappointing Robert Gates as secretary of defense and Michael Mullen as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because they are familiar with the problems in central Asia.
“We have a new window of opportunity to do the job,” he said. “It is important for Afghanistan and also for our interests that we succeed.”
Although only about 25 percent of the people are literate, Gouttierre said Afghanistan is a culturally rich country that has been involved in globalization, albeit at a slower pace than is now occurring, dating back to the Silk Road from China to Egypt that existed centuries ago.
“It’s been in the crossroads of a lot of activity,” the speaker said.
Gouttierre also discussed Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor along its southern border.
He called Pakistan “a failing state” that is the most problematic country in that part of the world. He said it presents a more serious situation than Afghanistan, particularly since it possesses nuclear weapons that will threaten the entire world if they get into the hands of the wrong people.
Afghanistan’s southern border runs about 1,500 miles alongside northern Pakistan. Complicating the situation is the Tribal Agency, which essentially is a stateless area in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). Gouttierre described the rugged terrain as something of a no-man’s land that “is perfect for terrorist training, warlords and drug lords.”
He said earlier this decade about 6,000 American soldiers spent months futilely searching the border area for Osama bin Laden, whom he suspects was hiding in Pakistan.
