if they do not want to go back, they should pay the amount of tuition they have received by the foundation. unfortunately, the issue of restraint on americans visiting afghanistan, even american diplomats, despite the fact that you have a large number of them present in that the country, keeps them from seeing what is happening. i have talked also with my friends in the congress about when members of the congress visit afghanistan, when they

land at the u.s. embassy, they go visit challenging places. this is part of the afghanistan, but i would really like for the u.s. congress to sit down with the students at the university. i would like them to sit down with the chamber of commerce. i would like them to hear from -- year from a different type of person in afghanistan, to see the real afghanistan. if they sit down with the chamber of commerce, you not just hear about how many people are killed or how about the security is. people need to see the real afghanistan that is out there. it is going to take some time and some changes in procedure to

allow americans better exposure to what the afghan people have to offer. >> i am is visiting scholar. >> from khuzistan. >> yes. -- from a news pakistan. >> is. -- yes. if you read articles in the united states and other countries, they expressed doubt about the achievable goals in afghanistan. how realistic are your goals? there is quite a complicated

democratic and civil society within afghanistan. >> i do not expect the international community to come to afghanistan to build democracy in afghanistan. that is not part of the mission. the mission is to defeat terror. the mission is to prevent the imposition of terror and tyranny. it is not to build democracy. we do have to build a pluralistic society in afghanistan. that is what the afghan people demand and deserve. democracy may seem like a funny word now, but if an ordinary citizen in afghanistan, or any country in my region, wants to get away from the secret police, once his wife to have a chance to give birth without dying, and

this is what he deserves. it could be racist to suggest that afghans do not demand this kind of thing. in terms of having basic services available to them by the government, in tibet -- instead of fearing the government. if we want to prevent terror and tierney, we have no option but to allow the people of afghanistan, in their own way, to allow the spread of ideas. >> i am it an intern at woodrow wilson. thank you, ambassador, for taking the time to share with us. you mentioned the need for dialogue. along those lines, is president karzai in the coming to washington in may?

if so, what can we expect from that visit? >> yes, president karzai is tentatively scheduled to visit on may 12th, or around that date. it is going to be a crucial visit. there will be new military operations taking place in afghanistan. he will have come from the kabul conference. there will also have been a reconciliation and peace conference. that trip is going to be really crucial. we look forward to that visit by our president to washington. >> excellence, and thank you for

your excellent speech. first, let me state that i have many young men and women as students. we still exchange poetry and we are very much in touch. we are very aware of the situation in afghanistan. we would like to discuss the process of political and socialization. now, let me state that, my students come from all regions. despite their different backgrounds, they live together,

and they communicate with me. during one of our conversations, one student expressed concern that afghanistan is [unintelligible] despite all of these efforts, what is the strategic -- the strategy of the afghanistan government? this is most important in regards to nation and state building? are rebuilding a nation state in afghanistan -- are we building a

nation state in afghanistan? >> the afghan nation is too doesn't years old. we are not building a nation. -- the afghan nation is 2000 years old. we are not building a nation. the fact is that, despite the fact that afghans live as refugees in neighboring countries, the sense of nationhood has become much stronger. i can tell you from personal experience, when we were drafting the new constitution of afghanistan, many ideas were debated. one idea was to have this system. people from the countryside were very much against it. there were so adamant to make sure that we have a strong,

unified government. i know that state institutions that delivered services art week -- are weak. we do not have a strong army like in pakistan to keep the country together. we have not had a state for many years. afghanistan might have disintegrated even before it the taliban came into power parity -- into power. on the countryside, there is a lot of talk about empowering local communities. power is held by it bill legitimate sources, narcotics, guns, violence.

there is a tendency in afghanistan to stick together in micro-tribes, and not to look to the central government for services. the government was not there all of the time for them. the afghan people would like to have a strong central system. we have to gradually get our communities to get more development, but politically, the sense of nationhood is very strong. >> along the same lines, it is striking that no one proposed to succeed during -- to secede during all of the civil war. this was following a terrible invasion in which a fifth of the population was killed. nonetheless, there was no secession movement. 5 million people chose voluntarily to go back,. obviously they have a strong identity. i do not read in the paper that

5 million are proposing to leave again. whatever we read about the problems, they are obviously committed to staying. yes sir, in the the back. >> thank you very much. thank you for sharing your thoughts about what is going on in afghanistan. what do you think, in the broader sense, of the message of the president obama and his surprise visit to kabul. also, speak about the military engagement of the united states and the international community. what are you particularly hearing from the united states

and the international community? ultimately, this will decide the future of afghanistan. thank you very much. >> thank you. in his sixth hour trip to afghanistan, president obama spent half of it in meetings with the afghan government and high ranking members of the ministry. he had a dinner that included many cabinet members. the president asked about the progress of the culture, security, and other aspects including the governments and others. we were grateful for president obama to take time to go to afghanistan to visit the troops, and also to exchange views and ideas about development in afghanistan.

the military engagement of -- i think the objective is to increase the responsibility of afghan security forces. this is the most sustainable solution. for the price appears one american soldier, we can train 80 afghan forces. there is no shortage of the desire to fight for their country. there is a shortage of skills and resources. trainers are coming. afghans are ready to take responsibility. in the area of development, we would argue that things are not sustainable. we would like the united states and other partners to stay with us to invest in the building and afghan government -- to invest

in building an afghan government that cannot sustain itself. -- that can sustain itself. >> yes, please. >> i am originally from afghanistan, but i have been raised in kansas. thank you to everyone who has been here this evening and to everyone else who has made this evening possible. a year and a half ago i moved to virginia. i have been a very thirsty for any afghan projects that have been going on here. i have not really found many. for instance, there are a few poetry clubs that afghan have made, which in part of, but, do

you have any focus on the afghans that are here, uniting them, and giving the project to do here? >> thank you. one of the things that you are benefiting from is the very qualified afghans serving the embassy. we work with a number of afghan organizations on cultural events. we know that the potential for these afghans to do more is enormous. a number of them have formed their own groups, smaller groups that get involved in a lobbying efforts or business development. as i mentioned, one of the purposes of this foundation is to really bring all of these

independent cells together and form a synergy between these different capabilities, and also to give afghans a place to go and to know what is going on better than what they have a right now. >> yes please, in the front. >> i am an independent consultant. i have two questions with regard to the implications of the goals of this foundation. the first is in regards to the taliban. there is a lot of news about reconciliation with the taliban. with whom will they reconciled? it is not clear. my second question is, when president barack obama announced the afghanistan surge at the same time he announced the withdrawal from iraq, i see a

lot of news -- at the same time he announced the withdrawal in 2011, i see a lot of concern among afghanistan citizens about fear of the united states leading. -- united states leaving. >> if you can imagine living in kabul and going about your normal life, and all of a sudden a suicide bomb or a roadside bomb is going off. it has been going on for too long. people do want reconciliation. they want an end to violence. as you mentioned, there is more work that needs to be done to develop national consensus on what is price of reconciliation.

to what extent? that is why we have the kabul conference coming up. we have the peace conference coming up in a couple that will have a primary focus on that issue. the primary focus will be on building a stronger national consensus, and also drawing lines on the limit of the concessions of that need to be made. so far, the government's position is that these reconciliations should be within the framework of the constitution of afghanistan. i agree with you. i have been in touch with groups that are concerned, especially women's groups and young students. they are worried, because so much has been achieved there. >> in the far back.

>> hello, i just want to say thank you to the ambassador for making himself available today. i would like to say thank you to the institute for hosting. my question relates to a specific industry in afghanistan, which i think has the potential to be transformative. i believe it to be a revelation -- a revolution in communications. it will have a second order effects on politics, commerce, tax collection and all of that. >> would this fall within the purview of the foundation for afghanistan? >> i look forward to learning more about the foundation. >> unfortunately, in the area of communication, tremendous progress has been made.

the last license, through a billing process, went for $40 billion. some of these companies have invested $100 million past their worth. we are using more and more telephones and mobile's -- and mibiobiles for communication and banking. when i see a very old man in afghanistan looking closely at his telephone, it gives me a new view of afghanistan >> you're

not worried who he is calling? >> note. just the fact that he is using it. [laughter] no, it is probably his grandson or someone. for me, what we have tried to do, and actually, we have established the backbone of this by laying fiber optics along almost every road that we have built. there was advanced planning that, while we were building new roads, fiber optics should be laid down to make communication efficient and more accessible and affordable. >> yes, please. >> hello, everyone. i think i am is one of those afghans vote was born there and grew up there, and this is my

first day in the united states. i will definitely go back home. my question is regarding the issue of reconciliation. first of all, mr. ambassador, you kindly described the official standing of the government of afghanistan, particularly about the identity of the taliban, with whom you are going to reconcile or negotiate. could you giving a quick definition of how you actually define taliban, and second, you also mentioned some very important concerns of afghan citizens, particularly about the constitution of afghanistan. up until now, even in your

speech, what i can understand is that the constitution of afghanistan would remain unchanged under any situation during these reconciliation talks. does this mean that if the taliban and does not accept it that it is over from your side, or is there room to negotiate about that? >> we would like to welcome two speakers who have just arrived. >> i am it so proud to see young people from afghanistan. on this job, we do not get to interact with you much. i best speech was at the university of afghanistan. this is the new afghanistan.

we have a very, very capable afghans who are emerging, from the -- with a proficiency of english language that is better than mine. i think we are dealing with three types of the taliban. first is the taliban with a capital "t." this is the taliban that has been affiliated with al-qaeda and terrorist networks in the region for a long time. this is 10% maximum. with this group, what we should do is try to split them up from al-qaeda and the intelligence agencies and the region that are

supporting them, if we can. or we should eliminate them. there is no middle ground. the engagement should be about two natures. either flip them and bring them into the fold, or get rid of them. if they do not slip, they are against everything that normal afghans stand for. another 30% of the taliban is basically a paycheck taliban militia. they are fighting either because they are paid, or they are fighting because they have been antagonized by our own government. they complain that people have fleeced kemper -- have fleeced them. government has not delivered services in their area.

or, they have been denied -- or they have been victimized by the military. in order to engage them, the solution is financial. we have to prove that if they come back, and they will be served and not arrested. that is a hard thing to do, but that is the engagement we should do with that 30%. the remaining 60% are people who are fighting for money. they have been offered $300 per month. there is high unemployment in afghanistan. unemployment in the winter is close to 80% in the countryside. there is nothing you can do when the crops are harvested. with that group, we have to give them hope and we have to give them jobs. if you give them a job, if you restore their home and village, their vineyards, their orchards,

then they will have no reason to fight. that is at the reintegration we need. we have to give them jobs and bring them back into the hold -- back into the fold by giving them a sense of hope for tomorrow. things are difficult politically with that 10%. but we should also focus on the 90%. there are two parallel tracks toward reintegration in afghanistan. there was originally more reconciliation talk by our government, but now they have realized there are two parallel tracks. >> we have time for just a couple more questions. we will start over here. >> i am from the embassy of

convicts on -- kazikstan. i have a couple of questions. i appreciate and embrace the ideas of this foundation. our government pays very much attention on education. they launched a state program of educating afghani students there. they educate around 1000 students at the cost of about $ 50 million united states dollars. the think this is one of the best ways to revive the economy and to make the nation more stable.

afghanistan has limited resources, and we can see how nations with limited resources can still become very powerful nations. my question here is, what are the effort of afghan government to create widespread education? is it widely spread all around the country? the second question -- >> we do not have time for a second question. >> and thank you very much. we really appreciate your question. i know your ambassador. he is very capable and a good friend of mine. we appreciate it very much,