Resolution by U.S. Congressmen to decentralize the failed Afghan govt.

22.10.2011 - 22:39

Source: The Liberary of Congress

Link: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.RES.423:#

112th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. RES. 423

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that in order to increase and sustain pressure on the Taliban, their terrorist allies and supporters, enable an expeditious and safe withdrawal of United States and NATO soldiers, reducing the great cost in lives and money, the United States should empower and recognize Afghanistan's ethnic diversity through free local and provincial elections and replace the present failed centralized system of government with a federal political structure that ensured the full participation of all ethnic communities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 5, 2011

Mr. ROHRABACHER (for himself and Mr. GOHMERT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

Whereas Afghanistan is a diverse country of minorities, including Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Turkmens, Aimaq, Baluch, and Nuristani;

Whereas decades of civil war and more than a century of repression and discrimination in Afghanistan has resulted in distrust, fear, and extremism and the rise of the intolerant and chauvinistic Taliban who opposed all other ethnic communities;

Whereas supporting highly centralized political structures and leadership in Afghanistan has led to widespread abuse, discrimination, corruption, and lack of local participation and support and anti-democratic approaches;

Whereas the Taliban, aligned with al Qaeda, during its reign of terror in Afghanistan intensified policies of ethnic retribution and discrimination particularly against the ethnic communities of northern, central, and western Afghanistan;

Whereas the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies viewed ethnic diversity and political pluralism as the greatest threat to its political domination and extremist beliefs;

Whereas the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies used highly centralized governmental structures in Kabul to collectively punish Afghanistan's diverse ethnic communities, enforcing policies of ethnic discrimination, cleansing, and retribution;

Whereas the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies, after having brutally repressed Afghanistan's diverse cultures and peoples, particularly the non-Pashtun peoples, launched a global terrorist war aimed particularly at the United States, leading to the attacks on September 11, 2001;

Whereas the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies were defeated by an alliance of the northern peoples of Afghanistan, mostly Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazaras, collectively known as the Northern Alliance, fighting for their freedom and supported by a small number of United States Special Forces and directed air attacks by the United States Air Force;

Whereas the defeat of the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies in northern Afghanistan led to the collapse of the terrorist Taliban regime and the end to Taliban and al Qaeda repression and terrorism;

Whereas in defeating the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies, thousands of brave fighters from northern Afghanistan were killed but only one United States citizen lost his life, demonstrating that the people of Afghanistan were willing and able to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda when they were fighting for their families, homes, and freedom;

Whereas the vital role of Afghanistan's diverse ethnic communities in defeating extremism and establishing a stable Afghanistan free of ethnic prejudice was ignored by the international community, which instead insisted on a highly centralized form of government built around one strong leader which has led to corruption and a repeating of past mistakes;

Whereas western support for a flawed constitutional process which concentrated vast power in the hands of the President including the direct appointment without confirmation or consultation of all local, district, and provincial officials, including mayors, governors, and police chiefs, rejecting the basic principles of representative democracy of local communities electing their own leaders;

Whereas by supporting a highly centralized government in Kabul, the present policy has repeated the mistakes of the past, including during the Communist and nationalist periods, leading to massive corruption, abuse of power, ethnic discrimination, and the disconnection and alienation of the people of Afghanistan from the government; and

Whereas 9 years of efforts to build a national police force and national military to protect Afghanistan have fallen victim to a failed centralized political system and the widespread corruption and cronyism it engenders, resulting in involvement of ever more United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ground forces and financial resources, from no more than 5,000 troops 8 years ago to 130,000 troops today: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--

(1) the United States Government should--

(A) engage in broadening the regional dialogue on Afghanistan to include countries that have been supportive of the United States effort to defeat the Taliban such as India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, shifting it from its Pakistani focus;

(B) support and encourage a representative, decentralized, democratic federal political system in Afghanistan that shifts more power to regions, provinces, and districts and away from a corrupt presidency, recognizes Afghanistan's ethnic regional and cultural diversity, and promotes mutual respect, trust, and goodwill between the various ethnic communities and regions of the country;

(C) support urgent constitutional reform that will enable local, district, and provincial election of mayors, police chiefs, and governors which would bring democracy closer to the people of Afghanistan and encourage trust between Afghanistan's different ethnic groups, containing the Taliban insurgency and its desire to expand beyond the Pashtun regions of the country;

(D) support the establishment of trained and properly regulated regional militias as well as a national army to fight the Taliban insurgency, particularly utilizing the natural allies of the United States who helped defeat the Taliban in 2001 in order to enable the reduction of the number of United States troops;

(E) undermine the extremism of the Taliban insurgency and its al Qaeda allies by drawing the people of Afghanistan back into the fight by supporting a government that truly represents them; and

(F) actively oppose the inclusion of the Taliban in the Government of Afghanistan; and

(2) the United States should abandon its support for the present failed centralized system of government that has led to enormous corruption, the abuse of power, the growing drug trade, ethnic domination which has enabled extremism, and a growing insurgency to take root again.

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