"Spain is making a difference", Op-ed in El País, August 29, 2010

Ambassador Solomont with Spanish troops at Qala-i-NaqNaq

Last week, Spain was stunned and saddened by the news that two Spanish Guardia Civil, Captain José María Galera Córdoba and First Lt. Abraham Leoncio Bravo Picallo, and their interpreter, Ataollah Taefik Alili, had been killed at the hands of a terrorist in Afghanistan. I received this painful news while on a plane from Kabul en route to Madrid; I had just visited the Spanish base at Qala-i-Naw the day before and met with commanding officer Colonel Luis Martinez Trascasa and his elite brigade of Spanish soldiers and trainers. My government and I express our deepest condolences over the loss of these three brave men, who demonstrated duty, honor, and pride.

This tragic event has sparked dialogue in Spain about the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. Based on what I saw and learned during my recent trip to the country, I take this opportunity to highlight to the Spanish people the reasons why we must get it right in Afghanistan and the region and why the success of our efforts there has a direct impact on the welfare and safety of the citizens of Spain and the United States.

We must not forget that the terrorist attacks we suffered in our own countries on September 11 and March 11 were hatched in the nests of extremism in Afghanistan and the surrounding region. We did not ask for this fight. We became involved in Afghanistan as an act of self defense, and we remain involved to prevent further assaults on our countries. The only way to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a nest of extremism and a springboard for terrorism that threatens our citizens is to prepare the Afghan people to take responsibility for their own security and their own future. That is exactly what the Guardia Civil police trainers deployed in Afghanistan are doing: providing the training and security necessary to make this transition to Afghan responsibility a reality. Thus, members of the Spanish Guardia Civil in Afghanistan, including the three fine men who lost their lives in the tragic incident of last week, are contributing to the security of Spanish citizens as directly as their counterparts back home in Spain. While we mourn those who have died, we must honor their sacrifice by seeking the most effective means to achieve our honorable objectives: a stable Afghanistan that provides adequately for its own citizens and that presents no threats to the region or the security of the rest of the world.

Tied to our own interest, we are concerned for the people of Afghanistan. A return to Taliban rule would condemn their country to brutal governance, international isolation, a paralyzed economy, and the denial of basic human rights to the Afghan people -- especially to Afghan women and girls. The United States and Spain share the belief that the roles and rights of women in any society is a key indicator of its stability and its potential for peace, prosperity, and democracy. Together, we are looking for ways to produce more opportunities for women and girls in Afghanistan. A country cannot achieve stability if half its population is undereducated, oppressed, and left on the sidelines.

Let me give you some examples of the progress being made: Under Taliban rule, only 900,000 boys and no girls were enrolled in schools. Today, as a result of efforts by the Afghan government, the United States, Spain, and other donors, more than six million children are in school. A third of them are girls. In addition, more than 70,000 loans have been extended to women-owned businesses. In Badghis Province, Spain has worked with Afghan partners to set up a provincial health system that serves as a model for the rest of the country. I had the opportunity to visit the recently reformed provincial hospital and the newly built maternity and pediatric wing. In a country with one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and where one in eight women die during childbirth, this hospital is providing more than just medical care. It is providing hope.

I left Badghis extremely impressed with the effectiveness of the Spanish mission. I admire the enthusiasm demonstrated by the courageous men and women deployed from Spain and their dedication to the difficult yet vital mission of providing the security and training for the people of Afghanistan to reclaim their country from extremists.

It has been a tough nine years. Our citizens, Spanish and American, as well as the Afghan people and the international community, want to see an end to this phase of the conflict. That is why last December President Barack Obama presented a new and revitalized strategy, devised and led by General David Petraeus, to bring the war there to a successful conclusion. Achieving this goal means Afghans taking responsibility for their own security, with international forces in a supporting role. We have already learned this will not be quick, nor will it be easy, but it is achievable.

As President Obama has often said, this is not a war of choice but of necessity. If we do not succeed, Afghanistan will again be a terrorist camp. Pakistan, Afghanistan’s nuclear armed neighbor, will be destabilized. As NATO Secretary General Rasmussen has explained, from that region extremism could quickly spread to Central Asia and to Europe. That is the unfortunate reality. And that is the reason for the presence in Afghanistan of Spanish troops, “warriors,” as Vice President Joe Biden addressed them during his visit to Spain last spring, “who have stood side by side with American warriors in Afghanistan and demonstrated duty, honor, and pride.”

With all this in mind, we must face the fundamental fact that is central to this mission: our shared security is directly linked to the security of Afghanistan, and therefore, we are obliged to protect those who cannot now protect themselves. Together, we must recognize the dimensions of this challenge and respond with the necessary commitment and determination to overcome it. To that end, Spain is making an important contribution in development aid as well as in troops and trainers. They are not only preparing the people of Afghanistan to take back their country from extremists, but they are also working to make the Spanish people – and all of us – safer and more secure. As I saw very clearly during my visit to Afghanistan, Spain is making a difference.