A NATO meeting in Poland agreed on Saturday to fund Afghan military through 2020, committing $ one billion annually, as Afghanistan continues to face uncertainty in the face of militant insurgency, endemic corruption, political infighting and absence of governance in large parts of the country.
President Barack Obama has already halted U.S. plan for a steady military withdrawal from the conflict-hit country, and now more than 8000 American troops will remain in the country, when Obama leaves the office in January 2017. The next U.S. leader, emerging from November 8 election, will inherit the lingering conflict with critical decisions toward normalizing the landlocked Afghanistan.
The war in Afghanistan, where the Taliban harbored al-Qaeda, the perpetrator of 9/11 terror attacks, is the longest military mission the U.S. and NATO have ever pursued. In all, NATO still has deployed more than 12000 troops in Afghanistan, mainly focused on training of the Afghan forces, and in the face of Afghan insecurity and instability including the presence of the ISIS, the military alliance’s mission remains open-ended.
“There’s no reason to speculate exactly on how long it will continue. What we have seen is we are committed and we are ready to stay,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the Warsaw summit, also attended by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah.
In his statement, Stoltenberg highlighted three key NATO decisions made at the summit
“First, we agreed to sustain our Resolute Support Mission beyond 2016, through a flexible, regional model. Second, we received firm national commitments to continue funding Afghan security forces through 2020. And third, we reaffirmed our support for a long-term political partnership and practical cooperation with Afghanistan,” he said. “So our message is clear: Afghanistan does not stand alone; and we are committed for the long haul,” he added.
In the regional context, the summit declaration on Afghanistan noted that “good neighborly relations, and regional cooperation and support to a secure and stable Afghanistan, remain essential. We welcome the role played by the Istanbul Process in supporting the Heart of Asia region which includes Afghanistan. A stable and prosperous Afghanistan will support a stable and prosperous region.”
The summit also renewed its support for Afghan reconciliation.
“We reaffirm our belief that an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process, which respects the Afghan constitution and human rights, including notably the rights of women, is the pathway to a sustainable resolution of the conflict. The region and the international community at large must respect and support such a process and its outcome.”
