Diplomat lectures on Afghanistan

Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Robert P. Finn lectured to a packed house, Thursday, discussing current problems during the country's reconstruction.\nThroughout the war and reconstruction periods, he was the man responsible for the undertaking. \nThursday night he stood behind a podium in the Georgia room at the Indiana Memorial Union. "Change is coming," he said to an audience representing several countries around the world, prominent faculty members and several graduate students. Also in attendance were the senior Air Force Reserves Officers in full uniform. \nThe ambassador is a Princeton University and St. John's College graduate, where he was a student of near eastern studies. His career has been in the Senior Foreign Services and he was a professor at Princeton. \nHe became ambassador to Tajikistan and later served as ambassador of Afghanistan beginning in March 2002. He remained in that position until his resignation in August 2003. He became the first U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan in 20 years, after the assassination of the former ambassador.\nProfessor M. Nazif Shahrani, chair of near eastern languages and cultures, opened the lecture with praise for the former IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm's forum series which was implemented in light of Sept. 11 and recent conflict in the Middle East. He said he expressed his gratitude for this opportunity for the ambassador to "shed light on problems we all share as Americans."\nFinn cited anarchy, feudalism and warlords as obstacles in the path toward an economically stable and secure region. He said one of the greatest challenges to reconstruction was in the circumstances that led to the current Afghan psyche. \n"Twenty-three years of war have created a generation of men who know nothing but war," he said. Because of prolonged political and economic instability, the Afghan people do not trust investment and are naive in their understanding of a command economy and free trade markets, he said. \nThough the mood in the room was that of somber intellectualism, the message was clear -- circumstances are improving. \nFinn said "although (the constitution of Afghanistan) is more secular than one the Afghanis wanted, and one that is less secular than one the Americans wanted," it still identifies a strong president and the equality of men and women. Communications are also showing the promise of a nationwide telephone system that would allow for the coordination of offices in far regions. \nThe one complaint that Finn had was the severe lack of financial support required for reconstruction. Though the ambassador said Bush has doubled his funding to Afghanistan, he calls private corporations and other countries to step up financial contributions. \nSenior Cindy Stumler said she didn't know much about Afghanistan's economy before watching him speak.\n"I never hear from the American media the specific plight of the people of Afghanistan," she said. "I never realized how much financial aid is needed to continue rebuilding the country."\nFinn remarked that the Afghan people fear that American and foreign economic and military aid might leave in a time of transition.\nChristina Sheets, the operations Group commander for the AFROTC, said she was very interested to hear what Finn said about military operations.\n"I was really happy to hear that the Afghanis are happy that we are there," she said. "I don't hear that much."\n-- Contact staff writer Lauren Schaefer at lamschae@indiana.edu.