Abdurrahim Wardak
Encyclopedia
General
Abdul Rahim Wardak (عبدالرحیم وردگ) (born: in 1940, Wardak
, Afghanistan
) is the Defense Minister of Afghanistan. He was appointed on December 23, 2004 by Afghan President
Hamid Karzai
. Before this appointment, Wardak was the deputy Defense Minister to the former minister, Mohammed Fahim
. In the past, General Wardak was a national Mujahideen
resistance leader who fought the Soviet forces during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan
. He is an ethnic Pashtun
from the Wardak province
. His diplomacy has been instrumental promoting ethnic reconciliation due to his lineage from tribal chieftains with strong Pashtun relationships with all ethnic groups of the country. He is fluent in Pashto
, Dari (Persian)
, and English, and as has many literal works in these languages.
General Wardak has testified in front of the U.S. Congress, and his counsel is regularly sought, on how to stabilize the Afghanistan
-Pakistan
region. He met with Richard Holbrooke
in 2009, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, to discuss security with NATO's defense ministers and NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, U.S. General John Craddock
. His on-the-ground knowledge of Afghanistan is widely respected. In 2009, General Wardak spoke at a Washington think tank
, Center for a New American Security
, where he said "changing course, adopting a new strategy of containment or dropping the idea of a strong central government will be falling into the trap the enemy has laid, helping them to achieve their evil objectives." He signed an accord with NATO commanders for better cooperation and coordination in counter-terrorism operations.
of Afghanistan in 1940. He attended Habibia High School
in Kabul
, and after graduating there he joined the Cadet University
. He completed further studies in the United States
and at the Ali Naser Academy in Cairo
, Egypt
. He has served as a Lecturer in the Cadet University and was Assistant of Protocol of the Ministry of Defense. He then served with the Mujahideen, as a military assistant officer in the Muhaz-e-Milli, as military assistant of the Trilateral Unity, and as a member of Itehad-e-Mujahidin and commander of the Jihadi fronts of Muhaz-e-Milli.
He joined one of the seven parties as a member of the military committee composed of "military advisers and senior staff officers from each Party." Pir
Sayyed Ahmad Gailani
lead the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan party of which then Colonel Wardak was a member. Gailani and Mujaddadi were the two moderate leaders of the group of seven. Wardak, as a notable Mujahideen commander, witnessed the "occupation and destruction of the key Resistance complexes at Zhawar in Paktia Province in Eastern Afghanistan by Soviet and DRA forces in the spring of 1986" and described the attacks as "the heaviest since the invasion." He testified several times before the U.S Congress
during the war against the Soviets. In 1989, he was wounded by a Scud
missile and received treatment in the United States.
After the fall of the Najibullah regime in 1992, Wardak was a member of the Security Committee of Kabul City, Chief of the Army Staff, Director of the Military Officers' Society, Director of the Education Commission, member of the National Army Commission, Deputy Defence Minister, Director of Disarmament Programme and Director of Reform of the National Army.
Minister Wardak ended the address by laying out President Karzai's vision for Afghanistan:
- It is an Afghanistan which is not a threat to regional stability, but achieves its own security and is strong enough to deter interference.
- It is an Afghanistan which is not a burden on the international community, but stands on its own feet, determines its own destiny and repays its debts to those who have given lives and resources to help us.
- It is an Afghanistan which is a respected member of the community of nations, and an example of an Islamic state which exports tolerance, moderation and stability.
-"Of course, we will continue to need the help of the international community to realize these noble ambitions. But I want to leave you with the message that the Government, and most importantly the people of Afghanistan, believe in this vision and will spare no effort to achieve it."
On February 28, 2011, General Abdul Rahim Wardak was interviewed by Charlie Rose from 1 to 2 p.m. on a plethora of subjects regarding present and future problems affecting Afghanistan and gave clear and concise answers to all questions. A very good overview of the progress and future tasks that will have to be accomplished to ensure a stable Afghanistan Central Government, including reintegration of certain Taliban elements tired of the fighting and reconciliation with Taliban leaders and their integration into the Central government for a unified Afghanistan. It also covered the development of a strong and stable Afghanistan military and police force to ensure a peaceful future. As he pointed out, the future requires the cooperation of Afghanistan's neighbors in denying safe haven to the Taliban, so they will come to the table and join a peaceful future in Afghanistan. A highly informative interview, which all the world, especially America should see.
in September 2005. It occurred when he had just left his car to go inside the airport for a trip to the Panjshir Province
. Four bullets hit "the exact place where the defence minister had been sitting in the car," Afghan defense ministry spokenab Gen Azimi said. "It is clear that it was an assassination attempt on the defense minister," Afghan defense ministry spokesman said.
-"Shutting down the sources of terrorist motivation, financing and training"
-"...methods of enhancing the capacity of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to be permanently present in villages that have been threatened by terrorist incursions and cross-border infiltrations"
-"...military action must be joined with long-term reconstruction and development assistance to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan."
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Abdul Rahim Wardak (عبدالرحیم وردگ) (born: in 1940, Wardak
Wardak Province
Maidan Wardak Province is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
) is the Defense Minister of Afghanistan. He was appointed on December 23, 2004 by Afghan President
President of Afghanistan
Afghanistan has only been a republic between 1973 and 1992 and from 2001 onwards. Before 1973, it was a monarchy that was governed by a variety of kings, emirs or shahs...
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
. Before this appointment, Wardak was the deputy Defense Minister to the former minister, Mohammed Fahim
Mohammed Fahim
Mohammad Qasim Fahim is an Afghan military commander, politician and the First Vice President since November 2009. He was the Defense Minister of the Afghan Transitional Administration, beginning in 2002 and also served as Vice President from June 2002 to December 2004...
. In the past, General Wardak was a national Mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
resistance leader who fought the Soviet forces during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. He is an ethnic Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
from the Wardak province
Wardak Province
Maidan Wardak Province is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar...
. His diplomacy has been instrumental promoting ethnic reconciliation due to his lineage from tribal chieftains with strong Pashtun relationships with all ethnic groups of the country. He is fluent in Pashto
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
, Dari (Persian)
Dari (Persian)
Dari or Fārsī-ye Darī in historical terms refers to the Persian court language of the Sassanids. In contemporary usage, the term refers to the dialects of modern Persian language spoken in Afghanistan, and hence known as Afghan Persian in some Western sources. It is the term officially recognized...
, and English, and as has many literal works in these languages.
General Wardak has testified in front of the U.S. Congress, and his counsel is regularly sought, on how to stabilize the Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
-Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
region. He met with Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....
in 2009, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, to discuss security with NATO's defense ministers and NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, U.S. General John Craddock
John Craddock
John Craddock is the name of:*John D. Craddock , U.S. Representative from Kentucky*Bantz J. Craddock , United States Army General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe...
. His on-the-ground knowledge of Afghanistan is widely respected. In 2009, General Wardak spoke at a Washington think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
, Center for a New American Security
Center for a New American Security
The Center for a New American Security is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank established in 2007 by co-founders Michèle Flournoy and Kurt M. Campbell which specializes in U.S. national security issues...
, where he said "changing course, adopting a new strategy of containment or dropping the idea of a strong central government will be falling into the trap the enemy has laid, helping them to achieve their evil objectives." He signed an accord with NATO commanders for better cooperation and coordination in counter-terrorism operations.
Early life and career
Wardak, son of Abdul Ghani, was born in the Wardak ProvinceWardak Province
Maidan Wardak Province is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar...
of Afghanistan in 1940. He attended Habibia High School
Habibia High School
Habibia High School is a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, which has educated many of the former and current Afghan elite, including President Hamid Karzai and the country's most famous musician Ahmad Zahir. It was founded by King Habibullah Khan in 1903....
in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, and after graduating there he joined the Cadet University
National Military Academy of Afghanistan
The National Military Academy of Afghanistan is an academic institution of the Afghan military that is located in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is a four-year military development institution dedicated to graduating officers for the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Air Force...
. He completed further studies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and at the Ali Naser Academy in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. He has served as a Lecturer in the Cadet University and was Assistant of Protocol of the Ministry of Defense. He then served with the Mujahideen, as a military assistant officer in the Muhaz-e-Milli, as military assistant of the Trilateral Unity, and as a member of Itehad-e-Mujahidin and commander of the Jihadi fronts of Muhaz-e-Milli.
He joined one of the seven parties as a member of the military committee composed of "military advisers and senior staff officers from each Party." Pir
Pir (Sufism)
Pir or Peer is a title for a Sufi master equally used in the nath tradition. They are also referred to as a Hazrat or Shaikh, which is Arabic for Old Man. The title is often translated into English as "saint" and could be interpreted as "Elder". In Sufism a Pir's role is to guide and instruct his...
Sayyed Ahmad Gailani
Gilani
Gilani or Jilani or Kilani may refer to:* a gentilic of Gilan, Iran* MV Gilani, an Empire F type coaster which sank at Montreal on 22 April 1972.* Gillani Railway Station, a neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan....
lead the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan party of which then Colonel Wardak was a member. Gailani and Mujaddadi were the two moderate leaders of the group of seven. Wardak, as a notable Mujahideen commander, witnessed the "occupation and destruction of the key Resistance complexes at Zhawar in Paktia Province in Eastern Afghanistan by Soviet and DRA forces in the spring of 1986" and described the attacks as "the heaviest since the invasion." He testified several times before the U.S Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
during the war against the Soviets. In 1989, he was wounded by a Scud
Scud
Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
missile and received treatment in the United States.
After the fall of the Najibullah regime in 1992, Wardak was a member of the Security Committee of Kabul City, Chief of the Army Staff, Director of the Military Officers' Society, Director of the Education Commission, member of the National Army Commission, Deputy Defence Minister, Director of Disarmament Programme and Director of Reform of the National Army.
| Lecturer | Cadet University |
| Assistant of Protocol | Afghan Ministry of Defense |
| Military Assistant | National Islamic Front of Afghanistan |
| Military Assistant | Tri-lateral Unity |
| Commander of the Jihadi Fronts | National Islamic Front of Afghanistan |
| Member | Itehad-e-Mujahiddin |
| Member of the Security Committee of Kabul Kabul Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan... City |
|
| Chief of the Army Staff | |
| Director | Military Officers Society |
| Director | Education Committee |
| Commission Member | National Army Rehabilitation Commission |
| Director | Disarmament Program |
| Director | National Army Reform |
| Deputy Minister of Defense | Afghan Ministry of Defense |
| Minister of Defense | Afghan Ministry of Defense |
Security sector reform and state building
In April 2005, just 3 years after the fall of the Taliban regime, the Afghan Minister of Defense, General Abdul Rahim Wardak addressed a group of listeners at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. In his address the Minister focused on the importance of the Afghan National Army in recreating Afghanistan, some of the requirements for international community engagement, and finally a summary of the current administration's vision to "create a stable, secure and prosperous Afghanistan."Minister Wardak ended the address by laying out President Karzai's vision for Afghanistan:
- It is an Afghanistan which is not a threat to regional stability, but achieves its own security and is strong enough to deter interference.
- It is an Afghanistan which is not a burden on the international community, but stands on its own feet, determines its own destiny and repays its debts to those who have given lives and resources to help us.
- It is an Afghanistan which is a respected member of the community of nations, and an example of an Islamic state which exports tolerance, moderation and stability.
-"Of course, we will continue to need the help of the international community to realize these noble ambitions. But I want to leave you with the message that the Government, and most importantly the people of Afghanistan, believe in this vision and will spare no effort to achieve it."
On February 28, 2011, General Abdul Rahim Wardak was interviewed by Charlie Rose from 1 to 2 p.m. on a plethora of subjects regarding present and future problems affecting Afghanistan and gave clear and concise answers to all questions. A very good overview of the progress and future tasks that will have to be accomplished to ensure a stable Afghanistan Central Government, including reintegration of certain Taliban elements tired of the fighting and reconciliation with Taliban leaders and their integration into the Central government for a unified Afghanistan. It also covered the development of a strong and stable Afghanistan military and police force to ensure a peaceful future. As he pointed out, the future requires the cooperation of Afghanistan's neighbors in denying safe haven to the Taliban, so they will come to the table and join a peaceful future in Afghanistan. A highly informative interview, which all the world, especially America should see.
Assassination attempts
General Abdul Rahim Wardak has survived an assassination attack at the gate of Kabul International AirportKabul International Airport
-Facilities:The airport has two terminal buildings, the modern for international flights and the Soviet built one for domestic flights. Several hangars along the runway are for military aircraft...
in September 2005. It occurred when he had just left his car to go inside the airport for a trip to the Panjshir Province
Panjshir Province
Panjshir is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Containing the Panjshir Valley, in April 2004 it was created from parts of Parwan Province, which now lies along its southwestern border. Panjshir's population is about 139,000 and covers an area of 3,610 square kilometers...
. Four bullets hit "the exact place where the defence minister had been sitting in the car," Afghan defense ministry spokenab Gen Azimi said. "It is clear that it was an assassination attempt on the defense minister," Afghan defense ministry spokesman said.
Fighting terrorism and narcotics
Nearly two and half years ago before the US counterinsurgency strategy in place in Iraq today had worked, in a 2007 meeting with former Vice President Cheney, General Wardak recommended a regional approach to fight terrorism and narcotics in Afghanistan. His plan consisted of the following points:-"Shutting down the sources of terrorist motivation, financing and training"
-"...methods of enhancing the capacity of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to be permanently present in villages that have been threatened by terrorist incursions and cross-border infiltrations"
-"...military action must be joined with long-term reconstruction and development assistance to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan."