HALDARI: Remembering the fallen in Afghanistan

OPINION:

The recent visits by President Hamid Karzai to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Arlington National Cemetery and Fort Campbell in Kentucky underscored the deep gratitude of the Afghan people and government to the ultimate sacrifices of the American military and civilians to help stabilize Afghanistan.

At Arlington National Cemetery, President Karzai paid his profound respects to the fallen soldiers of the United States and our allies in Afghanistan. He consoled the families and loved ones of the fallen in Afghanistan, who bravely fought alongside Afghans to liberate our nation from the tyranny of the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists. Without our shared sacrifices, the Afghan people would not have been free from fear, terror and suffering - and the United States and the rest of the world would not have been a safer place for all of us today.

The parents of the fallen may be reminded that Afghan parents - who have lost more than 2 million of their sons and daughters to decades of imposed conflicts on our country - share their deep grief on the irreplaceable loss of their dear children in Afghanistan, where we continue fighting a common enemy.

Indeed, it is because of their children’s ultimate sacrifice that Afghanistan is free and we have a democratic government today. It is because of their children’s ultimate sacrifice that Afghan women are no longer confined behind walls and that 8 million Afghan girls and boys are going back to school today; and it is because of their children’s ultimate sacrifice that Afghans are optimistic and hopeful again about our secure future.

Afghans and our history will never forget the sacrifices of 1,000 American soldiers, who fought and died, courageously defending their country and saving the Afghan people from despair and oppression under a foreign extremist movement that has nothing in common with the Afghan culture or our national vision of a free, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan.

The families and loved ones of the troops serving in Afghanistan today should be assured that the Afghan people welcome and support your sons and daughters in uniform. The U.S. forces are Afghanistan’s co-liberators, and that is how the vast majority of the Afghan people perceive them. Afghans demand security, justice and democracy, which they know can only be attained by long-term international engagement in our country.

A BBC-ABC-ARD poll released in January 2010 confirms that a widespread mood of optimism and sense of unity exists among Afghans. It showed that 70 percent of respondents thought Afghanistan was going in the right direction, while 90 percent wanted the country run by the current government, and only 6 percent favored a return of the Taliban regime. The same survey showed Mr. Karzai with a 72 percent approval rating, and 60 percent viewed government performance favorably.

From early 1990s, we recall that that premature international disengagement from Afghanistan made our country a no man’s land where transnational extremists, terrorists and criminals freely roamed and used our country as a launching pad to endanger international peace and security. The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, is a sad reminder, and one that we should never forget.

Indeed, freedom has never been free. Our two nations - Afghanistan and the United States - have sustained many losses in blood and treasure to reach this turning point in our history. We collectively owe it to the sacrifices of the fallen to build upon our shared achievements thus far and to overcome the challenges facing our two countries. Together, we can and must succeed to consolidate Afghanistan’s hard-won liberty and to ensure global peace and justice for everyone.

M. Ashraf Haidari is the political counselor of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington.