My Plans for Afghanistan

Mr. Bashardust, what will be your plans concerning relations with neighboring countries in case of being elected as the new president of Afghanistan?

Countries of the region, especially Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan should join their power and move towards forming a united country like European states. Afghanistan and Iran could complement each other. Iran, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan can reach a peaceful, prosperous life one day. We have nothing less than Europeans, but they live and we try to survive. Even Iran, one of the most developed countries of the region, has more than 8 million citizens living under the poverty line according to the data provided for the parliament. Such facts are a disaster. Iran, Afghanistan and other regional countries have great potentials and we should live better than Americans and Europeans. However, unfortunately we use our energy to curb each other.

My first goal is to form a united country in cooperation with leaders of other states. This is not a one-year of ten-year process however. It is gradual and is my chief regional policy. But if any country wants to interfere with our domestic affairs, undermine our situation or support terrorism, I will answer at any moment, any place and with any price.

How do you see Iran’s Afghanistan policy during the post-Taliban era?

Like other countries, Iran’s policy towards depends on Afghanistan’s leader. If Afghanistan was led by a U.S. puppet, Iran would change its policy since it had to defend itself. Just like Pakistan does whatever it can to undermine a pro-Russia or pro-India Afghan president. I believe that Pakistan, Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia have always followed a sort of reactive policy in Afghanistan. With every figure seizing power in Afghanistan, in Iran or Pakistan the state thought that its interests are jeopardized.

I hope this ends when I come to power. I’m the man of Afghanistan and I have ties to no foreign country. And this will cause Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and India to shift to a balanced policy.

What do you think of Western troops’ presence in Afghanistan?

I believe that the moment I am called the new president of Afghanistan, Taliban leaders will hold a meeting to discuss whether they should continue insurgence or not. In my opinion, %95 of Taliban forces will lay down their arms since they have no reason to fight against me. When this happens, al-Qaeda will be the only remaining problem. As said before, we are ready to pay for Bin Laden’s flight. We will tell him that he is jihading on the wrong land and we will send him to Jerusalem. That’s how foreign troops lose any ground to stay in Afghanistan.

We can rebuild our country without any help from foreign countries. But again I emphasize that if some regional states follow certain goals in Afghanistan we will reconsider our relations with West.

You pointed to Taliban. What is your plan for them? You said that they will lay down their arms if you win the elections. Are you going to negotiate with them and recognize them?

I’m not a dealer or fixer. I will not deal with any group, ethnicity or power. There is no group, ethnicity of language in Afghanistan I should recognize. My policy is rigid and scientific. If I said Taliban will lay down their arms that is because one of my plans is to oust any person who has Afghans’ blood on his hand from power. I will throw out murderous Mujahideen and all those who have killed people unrightfully.

Insurgence against Karzai started from refugee camps. When I talked to ordinary citizens, they told me that Taliban had returned to their homes. But the governor wanted to take revenge and started arresting and torturing them. Taliban who felt unsafe fled to mountains. I will pursue an Islamic, fair policy like the one carried out by Imam Ali during his rule, in which he and the suitor were equal against the court. With this policy no one calls for war and I believe we can build a peaceful, prosperous Afghanistan.

There are rumors about election fraud. Do you there is any possibility for vote-rigging?

I am the only candidate that has visited twenty-four out of 34 Afghan provinces. I was in direct contact with people. We had meetings with members of the election committee from 27 provinces. Two hundred thousand Afghans have been recruited by the committee. Among them are paralyzed, orphan and hungry and I believe these people will ensure the integrity of elections. Some say vote registration cards may be traded but that has no effects since the inks used in voting will allow each person to vote only once.

However, my big concern is about the bureau run by U.S. Republican Party since 2004 which looks more like a center for plotting against transparent elections. George Bush and his team who have fallen from power in the United States are trying to hold power in Afghanistan and unfortunately they are the ones running the U.S. Embassy.

In my debate with Hamed Karzai, I warned him and the Republican Party and in my interviews with journalists I said that if they want to continue this trend Afghanistan will be a worse nightmare for Obama. I hope they stop their efforts. The bureau established two years ago by the Democratic Party in Afghanistan has abstained intervention in Afghanistan election affairs. I fear Bush’s team more.

Having an overall look over Karzai’s administration, what are his weaknesses and what are your solutions for them?

Unfortunately, there is nothing which can be called Mr. Karzai’s administration. When you talk of administration, you think of a group of people with shared values and shared viewpoints on economy, culture, foreign diplomacy and social issues. Karzai has gathered a bunch of people whose only shared concern is to pocket money. Those who sit at the table in his government’s sessions have people’s blood on their hands. They have usurped people’s money and people’s lands. Karzai’s biggest weakness is that he does not have any administration.

Afghanistan suffers narcotics cultivation and trafficking. What are your plans for tackling this problem?

Narcotics threaten not only Afghanistan, but the regional and the world. Unfortunately, Iranian and Afghan youth are suffering addiction. That is a catastrophe. According to U.N. reports today Afghanistan is the largest producer of narcotics. However, according to the statistics, only one percent of the income goes to the Afghan cultivator. Three percent goes to regional traffickers and the remaining 96 percent is taken by international narcotics cartels. One of my first plans is to solve this problem god willing. If you remember, in 2004, Ahmad Ali Jalali from Afghanistan’s ministry of interior had said that senior Afghan officials are involved in narcotics trade. He had also talked of a list he possessed of these officials. The same claim was made by the vice-president. If I become the president of Afghanistan god willing and by people’s choice, I will summon these two officials and I will ask them to hand their documents to the court. Otherwise, they are either liars or accomplices and they should be sentenced. A New York Times correspondent had also published an article accusing Hamed Karzai’s brother with the same charges. We also want that correspondent to hand us the related documents. Afghanistan’s government should be purged of all narcotics traders.