Bucks
Anwar Kemal – Part Two
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Last week, I wrote about Anwar Kemal, the retired Pakistani Ambassador to Egypt. Mighty Betsy and I’ve been friends with Anwar since we met 40 years ago in Philadelphia. He returned last week for a visit and gave a talk at the Philadelphia Club about conditions in Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan.
He emphasized that the Soviet Union’s failure to pacify Afghanistan in the 1980’s was due to former President Reagan’s assistance to the Afghani insurgents. Anwar reminded us of the movie, “Charlie Wilson’s War,” saying that it was very accurate.
At the end of the movie, after the Soviets retreated, Charlie Wilson, a lobbyist, was unable to convince the U.S. Congress to fund public schools in Afghanistan. The irony of the story is that during the Soviet’s occupation of Afghanistan, Charlie Wilson attracted billions of taxpayers’ dollars courtesy of congressmen who were determined to beat the Soviets at any cost. But would those same congressmen fund Afghani public schools at the cost of just one million dollars? Did congress understand the opportunity to invest in Afghanistan’s future?
No!
Anwar Kemal says that America soon wearied of Afghanistan and abandoned it, making it easy for followers of Osama bin Laden to fill the vacuum. “The Taliban hardly fired a shot,” he observed.
During the question and answer period, a listener asked Anwar if America should send more troops to Afghanistan? “Yes,” he answered emphatically.
But Anwar emphasized that America must find a way to get aid to the people at the grass roots level rather than through the corrupt government of President Hamid Karzai. The Associated Press wrote (Nov. 19) that Afghanistan has become the world’s second most-corrupt county (according to a survey by Transparency International).
Skeptics wonder how American troops can gain the support of the Afghan people when Afghanistan is crippled with corruption, high unemployment, and an impoverished, uneducated population?
Anwar agrees with reporter Trudy Rubin’s assessment. “Avoiding the top leader for local leaders may be a more effective way to face the many problems in Afghanistan,” she wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer (Nov. 15). “There’s a way to circumvent the Karzai problem: bottom-up strategy that deals more directly with effective governors and ministry officials in troubled provinces.”
Anwar spoke about the Pashtuns who are the major work force in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of the 34 million living in Afghanistan and the 176 million in Pakistan, 14 million and 28 million are Pashtuns, respectively. “The Pashtuns are hard workers and are happy to earn $5 per day,” Anwar says.
His advice is straightforward: pay Pashtuns to provide the labor to build an infrastructure in Afghanistan; pay them to be the farm workers. It’s cheaper than investing $500,000 for each American soldier, Anwar says. It would also address the bottoms-up strategy needed in Afghanistan.
Could China help us in Afghanistan, another listener asked?
“Yes,” Anwar answered. China is not a threat to the United States. And the Chinese are targets for the Taliban because America and Pakistan are Chinese allies.
A few listeners (me included) worried about Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. What would happen if insurgents overturned the government and took possession of the nuclear arsenal?
Anwar is not troubled. He assured his listeners that the Pakistani military is quite prepared to meet any emergency. Anwar has more confidence than Seymour Hersh has. The “New Yorker” magazine editor believes that America and Pakistan have a mutual agreement to protect Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Are you reassured?
How is President Obama perceived in Pakistan, another listener asked?
“Your President is popular in Pakistan,” Anwar replied, “but he doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor.” (That’s easier said than done, I thought silently.)
We asked him about education. Half of the Pakistani population cannot read or write. “One reason education has historically been a low priority for Pakistani governments is that the governing elite can afford to send their children to the best private schools or to academies abroad,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported (Nov. 8). “Another reason is the feudal structures in the rural areas that give land-owners an incentive to keep farm workers uneducated and submissive.”
Public schools often lack basic amenities like water; teachers get away with absences; and the bureaucracy is cumbersome, the Inquirer continued. But at last, private schools are flowering. “Around one-third of Pakistan’s 33 million students attend a range of 58,000 private schools, far more than the 1.6 million in the 12,000 madrassa [schools],” the Inquirer reported (Nov. 8).
Since his retirement from Foreign Service, Anwar lives quietly on his family farm. He raises oranges and buffalo. “I keep a low profile,” he says. “Obscurity is my friend.” Then he smiles to reassure his friends that he is quite safe.
“Pakistan is not dangerous,” Anwar laughs heartily, “United States highways are dangerous.”
Anwar may return for a visit next year. We hope so. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith
P.S. My colleague Joe Ferry sent this reminder to me. “The Perkasie Community Christmas Tree lighting comes Saturday, Dec. 5.,” he wrote. “It’s the 100th anniversary of what we believe is the oldest community Christmas tree lighting ceremony in America. It was started by the Order of the Owls (what a hoot, says I) at the encouragement of Samuel Kramer, the Publisher of the Perkasie News-Herald. New York, Washington, D.C. and Williamsburg didn’t start their tree lighting ceremonies until a few years later. So, until someone proves us wrong, we’re claiming the oldest community Christmas tree lighting ceremony.”
You can find the full schedule of events on the Internet… Perkasieborough.org.