At the one-day conference held in London last week in January on Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, who won a second term as president, laid out his plans for the development and stabilizatio0n of his country. Accused of corruption in government, he said he has fired two members of his Cabinet on corruption charges, and added able technocrats in their place. Along with the “surge” of military and civilian workers from the United State, Germany, and the NATO countries committed to sending more military and civilian aid.

To achieve justice, employment, and good governance for his people, Karzai outlined several points. First, there must be regional peace by establishing better relations with Afghanistan’s neighbors, Pakistan, Iran, China, India, and Russia. Karzai’s point about regional cooperation was seconded by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and 20 former foreign ministers who released a statement that there “needs to be a regional solution to Afghans problems.” Since Afghanistan has a tradition of strong local councils, Karzai said, he would use them to strengthen oversight of the civil service. The government would strive for economic growth and improve education, healthcare, and agriculture.

His most questionable idea was to re-integrate members of the Taliban, who had joined for economic rather than ideological reasons, back into society. This idea was agreed to by the UN Secretary General and the members of 70 nations who attended the conference.

Some Afghan women leaders expressed opposition to the idea of bringing back the Taliban, especially if they had any official authority.

The women of Afghanistan – who make up 50 percent of the population – are not so much concerned with corruption as they are with jobs. During the “dark period” of Taliban rule, they were kept in their homes, but later they emerged as a strong work force. The US “surge” in Afghanistan was not merely military but included many civilians to work with local leaders, for better services for the Afghan people.

One such effort, which was launched last year, is for the military to contract Afghan women workers to supply uniforms and T-shirts for the Afghan army and police. The initial contracts, issued by the Kabul Regional Contracting Center, total $365 million over five years.

British Opposition leader, David Cameron made the point that as areas of Afghanistan stabilize, NATO, and US forces should hand them back to Afghanistan as soon as local leaders could take control.