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| Chairs: | Dennis Kux Marshall M. Bouton Nicholas Platt Frank G. Wisner, External Affairs, AIG Inc. |
|---|---|
| Director: | Mahnaz Ispahani, Former Council Adjunct Senior Fellow for South and West Asia |
June 2003
The United States successfully toppled the Taliban in the Afghan war, but it is in danger of losing the peace following the conclusion of that war. Without greater international support for the transitional government of President Hamid Karzai, security in Afghanistan will deteriorate further, prospects for economic reconstruction will dim, and Afghanistan will revert to warlord-dominated anarchy. This failure could gravely erode America’s credibility around the globe and mark a major defeat in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, warns this informative chairmen’s report.
To prevent a return to anarchy, Washington needs to bolster the ability of Hamid Karzai’s ability to bring security and economic hope to the people of Afghanistan. The report makes three principal recommendations to achieve these goals: improve security by extending peacekeeping efforts beyond Kabul and accelerating development of the Afghan National Army; increase pressure on neighboring countries to stop their backing of warlords or pro-Taliban remnants; and provide at least $1 billion in reconstruction assistance for each of the next five years.
Specific Task Force recommendations the United States should take to avoid failure in Afghanistan include: instructing U.S. forces to help implement the plan to demobilize, demilitarize, and reintegrate the regional militias, estimated at 100,000-strong; urging Pakistan to prevent pro-Taliban elements from using its territory for cross-border attacks; and making sure that U.S. aid programs match the priorities established by the Afghan government and are implemented under its aegis.
DAVID D. ARNOLD, Institute of International Education
HARRY G. BARNES JR., Asia Society
RAENU BAROD, Barger and Wolen LLP
BRUCE G. BLAIR, Center for Defense Information
JOHN E. CARBAUGH JR., John E. Carbaugh Jr. LCC
MAYA CHADDA, William Paterson University
PURNENDU CHATTERJEE, The Chatterjee Group
LINCOLN C. CHEN, Harvard University
MICHAEL T. CLARK, U.S.-India Business Council
WILLIAM CLARK JR., Japan Society
STEPHEN PHILIP COHEN, Brookings Institution
W. BOWMAN CUTTER, Warburg Pincus
FLORENCE A. DAVIS, The Starr Foundation
DAVID B. H. DENOON, New York University
ROHIT M. DESAI, Desai Capital Management Inc.
LEWIS A. DUNN, Science Applications International Corporation
BENEDICT F. FITZGERALD
FRANCINE R. FRANKEL, University of Pennsylvania
BARRY D. GABERMAN, The Ford Foundation
R. MICHAEL GADBAW, General Electric Company
SUMIT GANGULY, Indiana University
LARRY P. GOODSON, U.S. Army War College
THOMAS GRAHAM, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories
VARTAN GREGORIAN, Carnegie Corporation of New York
ROBERT M. HATHAWAY, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
KAREN ELLIOT HOUSE, Dow Jones and Company, Inc.
KARL F. INDERFURTH, George Washington University
RODNEY JONES, Policy Architects International
FAROOQ KATHWARI, Kashmir Study Group
CHARLES R. KAYE, Warburg Pincus
MICHAEL KREPON, The Henry L. Stimson Center
BIRENDRA KUMAR, BGM Kumar Foundation
WINSTON LORD, International Rescue Committee
DAVID T. MCLAUGHLIN, The Aspen Institute
SREEDHAR MENON, Viteos Technologies Limited
JOHN MEROW, Sullivan and Cromwell LLP
JOYDEEP MUKHERJI, Standard and Poor’s
POLLY (MARY) NAYAK, Abraxas Corporation
RAYMOND C. OFFENHEISER, Oxfam America
PHILIP OLDENBURG
ARVIND PANAGARIYA, University of Maryland
GEORGE PERKOVICH, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
DANIEL B. PONEMAN, Forum for International Policy
IMRAN RIFFAT, J.P. Morgan Investment Bank
PATRICIA L. ROSENFIELD, Carnegie Corporation of New York
BARNETT R. RUBIN, New York University
GEORGE RUPP, The International Rescue Committee
NAFIS SADIK, United Nations
PURNA R. SAGGURTI
HOWARD B. SCHAFFER, Georgetown University
TERESITA C. SCHAFFER, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
LAWRENCE SCHEINMAN, Monterey Institute of International Studies
JED SNYDER, CNA Corporation
KATHARINE SREEDHAR, Holdeen India Fund
T. N. SRINIVASAN, Yale University
S. FREDERICK STARR, SAIS Central Asia and Caucasus Institute
AJOY VACHHER, The Astor Group
ASHUTOSH VARSHNEY, University of Michigan
DAVID F. WOLF, Fremont Group
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