Afghans are provided with the conditions to build their future in a responsible way. It is to be said that the future must be charted out and built by Afghan people themselves. Now that ten years have passed since the international community came into this troubled part of the world, Afghans must be prepared to believe that they have the last chance to begin to turn things around and sort out their problems.
Afghan people must also begin to be prepared to believe that if they fail to seize this opportunity to stabilize and develop their countries for good, the consequences will be extremely dire and fatal. Even the current conditions will disappear if they are not built upon and further developed.
Unfortunately, Afghan people have not come to properly realize and appreciate the importance of this chance and the fact that one day it will disappear promptly and surprisingly. International community came into Afghanistan for the sake of their interests, which happened to be in consonance with those of Afghan people and society.
They had a big stake in intervening in Afghanistan. Their security was being threatened and terrorists were posing threats to them on their streets. They united to counter those threats on this troubled land. They will withdraw from the country for the sake of their interests when they consider appropriate.
It was in the interests of Afghanistan to welcome international community coming to help it achieve peace and stability. But since things are yet to become sustainable, it is not in the interests of our country to see international community saying goodbye.
A continued relation with western powers will help provide continued conditions for economy in Afghanistan to begin to do its function effectively to provide livelihood to the people. 30% of Afghan people are reported to be under poverty line due to malfunction of economy and lack of economic policies to generate enough jobs and employment opportunities for the people.
Due to years of war, the institution of economy has ceased to function properly, which is to provide livelihood for the people and meet their basic needs. It is the case with all institutions in the country. The institution of politics, for instance, is not able to do its function in an efficient way to provide security for the citizens and long-term partnership with the west will help politics return to its role in the country.
Over the last ten years, the institution of education has begun to function to provide skills of life for Afghan children. But there are still challenges facing the efforts to educate Afghan children and to prepare them for undertaking key social, political and economic roles in the country.
Many Afghan children are still deprived of the opportunity to acquire the skills to manage their lives and to begin to play a role in the society. Afghanistan remains an extremely poor country relying on international aid money to run the state of affairs, to provide livelihood, to provide services to the people.
If a sustained relation with the big powers is not developed, the gains may disappear considering the fact the country has not figured out any domestic alternatives to the international aid money. President Karzai in his joint press conference with the US secretary of state said that a long-term strategic agreement with the US is important to root out extremism in the region.
That is the bigger picture that president Karzai painted. The significance of this agreement really comes from its benefits for Afghan people, for their security, livelihood and education of their children. These are the real cogent reasons and motives for Afghanistan to enter into this agreement.