Thank you.
Look at the map of Afghanistan today. It's obviously a shifting delineation of what is happening from different perspectives. But the belt that separates us from the tribal regions of Pakistan is the most insecure, unstable region. This is a fact. The rest of Afghanistan is relatively stable and peaceful, where normal life continues and takes place with business activity, education, and development. We have a problem along this tribal belt, for obvious reasons, because on one hand we have infiltration and cross-border activity taking place; on the other hand, arms and men and ammunition are crossing into Afghanistan, and there are safe havens to which they can go back to. So we need to look at the situation from a very realistic point of view as to how we can change the dynamics of the situation.
Coming to the police and protection of police, I have to tell you that one of the failures of my government, the international community, and the donors has been to undersource the police for several years, especially in terms of not giving them the most basic means of protection, which is a gun. A policeman in Afghanistan, who is expected to be facing a terrorist coming with all types of armaments--including suicide attacks and suicide bombers--has at times not had enough ammunition to defend his post. A large percentage of police in Afghanistan have died as a result of a lack of munitions, or arms that have malfunctioned, because somebody gave them the wrong arm or an old or dysfunctional arm.
We have a long road to travel and we have a lot of hard work, and we have to really think hard about how to change the situation. As I said, there are thousands of families who are mourning because their son could not defend himself when he was attacked.
Forget about the pay. Some of these people can do their job for several months without being paid. But they say, “If you do not give me a bullet so I can defend myself, or a gun that can function properly, then you're really doing a disservice to me, to the country, and to your goal as an international community.” These are facts. This is not an illusion.