Dai Havard

Labour Party | Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney

‘The Poppy Fields of Lashkar Gah’

I recently made another visit to Helmand Province in Afghanistan, as part of my work on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. The bad news is there is a bumper crop of Opium Poppy in the fields. I could see people harvesting the crop from the helicopter as I flew into Lashkar Gah. The relative good news is that the expected Taleban ‘Spring Offensive’ has not come about, as yet. That does not mean the Taleban and elements of al-Qaeda and local criminals are not punishing and killing the local people and that there are no attacks on British and other NATO forces. The expectation is that once the poppy harvest is finished the Taliban plan to recruit or force locals to be their ‘day labour’ and attack the building of the Kajaki Dam and other development projects. NATO forces do not plan to wait for that and by the time you read this you will have seen NATO forces along with the Afghan National Army attack the core Taleban in the South and West to head off that violence and consolidate the gains that were hard won there last year.

The regular speculative mortar attack on the base at Kandaha was earlier in the evening than on my last visit and so I was able to get a full six hours sleep, in a bed! Flying from Kandaha to Helmand Province in a US Blackhawk helicopter was an interesting experience. I have travelled with the US forces in conflict zones before and the contrast between their way of doing and that of our troops is stark. As soon as we left the outskirts of Kandaha the ‘50 Calibre’ machine gun was rattling into the desert where I could see only a few shepherds and nomads with their animals. It might be US security routine but I question what it did for my security and the attitude of the local people.

In the town of Lashkar Gah I met with local District Councillors and local people working for Afghan and other development agencies. I discussed the problems of security in trying to bring electricity, water, schools and roads to these communities. I had met one of the women District Councillors before, in London, and it was good to see her in Helmand. These are brave people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families and the role of women in the political system is particularly difficult but vital to that. As always when I visit the country I was impressed by the spirit of these people. Bringing security to allow development was the universal demand from Afghan political representatives both in Helmand and nationally in Kabul. That work is being helped by the increasingly capable Afghan National Army (ANA) and the British have done a huge amount to help train and deploy the ANA. There are many unsung heroes amongst our forces who work, live and fight with the ANA to achieve that. Afghan Defence Minister, General Wardak, always asks for more help whenever I meet him but on this trip he was clear of the need for this type of training to be extended to the Afghan National Police. He is right. Development of the Police and the Criminal Justice system is crucial and missing at present. It is this development before others that would give real day to day security to the Afghan people. Meeting President Karzai for the first time I was pleased that he immediately agreed with this but I was a little concerned that the plans for a National Police Force to be supported by a locally based Auxiliary Police Force were not as clear as many would want and some fears were expressed that they could just reinforce or become a local militia. I met up again with members of the Afghan Human Rights Commission and it was good to see them and know that they were still questioning and scrutinising their government. In the Afghan Parliament I met again with some MP’s from Helmand Province and also met with MP’s from the Defence Committee of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House) with similar responsibilities to our own Defence Committee. I hope we can develop these contacts alongside the formal Government to Government and Minister to Minister relationships. I was impressed with the openness of President Karzai and learned that one of his immediate family had studied at University in Wales! I did not share all of his analysis, nor he mine, but he was open to discussion as well as generous with his time.

On this visit I was able to stay in a commercial hotel in Kabul rather than the Military compound and fly into Kabul on a commercial airliner of Air India. In the nine months since my last visit I could see improvement in the city and I was able to travel in a protected four wheel drive rather than a Warrior armoured personnel carrier. Kabul is still a dangerous place and I had well armed Close Protection officers and whilst I will not name them for security reasons, as they are still there, I would like to thank them for their professionalism and comradeship.

We entered Afghanistan from New Delhi where we had been meeting Ministers and Military personnel of the Indian Government. On our last visit we went via Pakistan so this time we got the perspective from India. We discussed the involvement of India and Iran in the future of Afghanistan. Iran and India have significant development aid programmes operating in Afghanistan, in the West of the country. In Kabul I met the new US and NATO commander, General Dan McNeill, and discussed with him the NATO strategy for the next two years. We also discussed the attitude of the US government and the Bush White House to the shared borders of Afghanistan with Pakistan, China and Iran. It is clear that Military action alone is not the way to achieve peace and development in this Region and that the US Neo-Con foreign policy and military ‘adventures’ promoted by the likes of Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush have massively prejudiced and complicated already difficult relationships.

The growing use of heroine by the Afghanis themselves rather than just its export of heroine is a recently new development and raising big discussions in the places where it is grown. A local doctor in Lashkar Gah told me the official estimate of drug users in Helmand Province was now 35,000 but he thought the real figure was double that. The Iranians have 4 million registered addicts and we know that the heroine on our street comes from Afghnistan. We will not help stamp out drug trafficking or safe havens for terrorists unless we engage politically with the people of all these countries and all the countries of Central Asia. The central position of Afghanistan both geographically and politically in the Region is vital and it appears that following the recent US elections the many things that should unite the International community in helping Afghanistan are beginning to play out in diplomacy as well as in military planning. I can only say those more positive attitudes were reflected in my discussions with the US General and with the additional money the US are now providing to do jobs like train the Afghan Police.

The British are only part of a NATO mission in support of a United Nations mandate to help the elected Afghan Government and President and it is clear that some other European members of NATO need to help more with that effort. We should, however, give credit to those countries both within and outside NATO who are working with our troops. The Australians and Canadians get a very good press from our people and I having met many of them I can see why. It has been Dutch F16 Fighters that have been giving vital close air support to our troops on the ground in Helmand and they with the Danes, Estonians and Lithuanians are all especially praised by our people.

What always impresses me when I visit our troops is that they have a much clearer and sharper understanding of what they can do and what others should do to benefit their effort than is ever shown back home. The National Press media in the UK do not give them anything like the recognition and credit they deserve. The Defence Committee is continuing to monitor and press for proper support for them and they are getting additional fighting capability and improved medical and welfare support. There is a huge amount to do in Afghanistan and it is clear from each visit I make that it will take many years to develop the country and stop it becoming a ‘Narco’ state and exporting drugs. We should be under no illusions about how hard that task is but also be proud of the contribution our troops have made to bring security and development in what often appears to be this very far off part of the world but which has a direct and often dangerous impact on our streets and daily lives.