http://www.sais-jhu.edu/news-and-events/index.htm#jawad
Voice of America’s Beth Mendelson, Chief of VOA’s Afghan Service, was a
panelist today at a John’s Hopkins University School of Advanced
International Studies discussion, “Afghanistan: Where Do We Go From Here?”
with keynote speaker Said Tayeb Jawad.
The event, sponsored by SAIS’s Center on Politics and Foreign Relations and
moderated by CPFR Director Robert Guttman, examined the Afghan perspective
on the Obama administration’s new war strategy for Afghanistan which
includes a major military surge of 30,000 additional U.S. troops and an 18
month timetable to drawdown American forces serving in Afghanistan.
Ambassador Jawad acknowledged his land-locked country will have a steep task
accommodating the arrival of 30,000 fresh troops, the first of which are set
to deploy within weeks. The ambassador added efforts to improve relations
with neighboring countries will help ensure there is support for the new
recruits.
The ambassador also said the U.S. success in Afghanistan will involve
efforts to engage and understand the needs of the Afghan people.
Along with Ambassador Jawad and Mr. Guttman, Mendelson was joined on the
panel by Daniel Dombey, diplomatic correspondent at the Financial Times. Video
and audio of the discussion can be seen at the SAIS Web site at
http://www.sais-jhu.edu/index.html.
