The Rice Thresher, Vol. 90, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 22, 2002 Page: 6 of 20
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6
THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22,2002
symposium
by Ian Everhart
THRESHER STAFF
Experts on Afghanistan and Cen-
tral Asia evaluated Afghanistan's
potential for development at the
James A. Baker III Institute for Pub-
lic Policy Monday for the Interna-
tional Symposium on Afghanistan.
Sponsored by the Baker Insti-
tute, the French Consulate G6n£ral
and the Museum of Fine Arts, Hous-
ton, the event featured a panel dis-
cussion and several addresses about
the Central Asian country's transi-
tion.
'Today, a new
Afghanistan is
emerging after more
than two decades of
war and tragedy for the
Afghan people
— Denis Pietton
Minister counselor of the
French Embassy
Denis Pietton, Minister counse-
lor of the French Embassy, opened
the event by describing the "Afghan
miracle" that has taken place since
U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan in
pursuit of A1 Qaeda.
'Today, a new Afghanistan is
emerging after more than two de-
cades of war and tragedy for the
Afghan people," he said.
People are back to work, chil-
dren of both genders are back in
school, and nations around the world
are helping to rebuild Afghanistan,
Pietton said.
"[These achievements] are the
first fruits of the efforts of the Af-
ghan people and its leaders ... and
the steady resolve and involvement
of the international community," he
said.
Pietton closed by restating the
commitment of France and the Eu-
ropean Union to rebuild Afghani-
stan. France will maintain its forces
in the region in order to provide
security and will build democratic
institutions and contribute finan-
cially to the reconstruction of the
country, he said.
Following Pietton at the podium
was Ishaq Shahryar, the first inter-
nationally recognized ambassador
from Afghanistan to the United
States since 1978. Shahryar empha-
sized the need for investment in
Afghanistan's private sector.
"Afghanistan has [had] many po-
litical revolutions," he said. "It's time
... to have an economic revolution.
The military campaign is success-
ful. Let us build a country."
Shahryar extended a specific in-
vitation to American businesspeople
and entrepreneurs to invest in Af-
ghanistan.
"Our friends and our enemies will
judge us on how we build Afghani-
stan," he said.
Olivier Roy, an expert on Afghani-
stan from the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique in Paris, ana-
lyzed patterns of Afghan politics in
recent history.
Afghanistan's reputation as an
unruly and anarchic country is not
justified, he said. In the period be-
tween Afghanistan's formation in
1881 and the communist coup d'etat
in 1978, only two short periods of
strife — a foreign war in 1919 and a
civil war in 1929 — punctuated the
country's tranquility.
£J
CHRISTINE LIANG/THRESHER
Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad spoke Monday about the need for foreign countries to
stay Involved in Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan has been a rather
stable country, or at least more stable
than France in the same period,"
Roy said.
Afghanistan remained stable de-
spite the fact that almost all of the
country's borders were drawn arbi-
trarily by colonial powers with disre-
gard for ethnic and cultural bound-
aries.
Roy said the new government
must avoid micromanagement and
encourage local commanders and
leaders to play important roles in day-
to-day life. The quality that character-
ized previous Afghan governments
was their role as distant and benevo-
lent referees. Ix>cal "warlords," Roy
said, were quite happy having a cen-
tral government in Kabul, as long as
it acted only as a referee for the skir-
mishing factions.
The 1978 communist coup de-
stroyed the balance between rival
ideological groups and between lo-
cal and central powers, Roy said. It
was this event that polarized and
divided the country.
The final speaker of the sympo-
sium was Special Presidential En-
voy for Afghanistan Zalmay
Khalilzad.
Khalilzad said success in Afghani-
stan would help the whole region
and must be achieved through coop-
eration.
'The United States is committed
to do what it can for as long as needed
to consolidate the new order in Af-
ghanistan and to promote regional
stability," he said.
Khalilzad praised the efforts of
the many countries currently work-
ing to build a framework for
Afghanistan's new government Ger-
many, France and the United States
are working to establish security
around the country, and Italy is work-
ing to revive legal structures, he said.
Khalilzad said he has seen incred-
ible progress in the year since the
Taliban were deposed. Six hundred
schools have been rebuilt, 30,000
teachers are employed, 2 million refu-
gees are returning, 8 million people
have been vaccinated for measles,
and the country's tattered network of
roads is being repaired.
"[Afghans] have made the right
choice," he said.
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Campus locations
covered in toilet paper
by Lindsey Gilbert
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Students woke up to trees blan-
keted in white Sunday morning, but
it wasn't a snowstorm — it was a
case of late-night toilet papering.
Various campus locations were
vandalized with toilet paper Satur-
day night, including the lawn in
front of the Sallyport, President
Malcolm Gillis' house, buildings
in the academic quadrangle and
trees near both the North and
South colleges.
Willy's Statue was also swathed
in toilet paper.
Several students said they saw a
rowdy group roaming the campus
when they were leaving for or re-
turning from Esperanza.
Will Rice College sophomore Eric
Jean said he saw a group of males
carrying rolls of toilet paper at about
midnight. The group was walking
from the direction of Baker and
Lovett Colleges and appeared to be
headed for the North colleges, Jean
said.
"They looked kind of drunk," he
said. "They were just kind of throw-
ing [the toilet paper] haphazardly."
The Rice University Police De-
partment will not attempt to catch
the culprits, Police Chief Bill Taylor
said.
Taylor said he does not think
vandalism is a major problem on
campus, and toilet-papering, al-
though it may present clean-up
problems, is little more than a nui-
sance.
"[The toilet-papering] didn't re-
ally show up on our radar screen,"
he said. "It's not a criminal action,
it's just mischievous."
POLICE BLOTTER
The following items were reported to the University Police for the period
Nov. 13 - 19.
Other Buildings
Student Center
Parking Lots
West Lot
Other Areas
Entrance 3
Nov. 15 Minor in possession at Willy's Pub.
Student will be referred to University
Court.
Nov. 16 Vehicle was damaged while parked,
and no information was left.
Nov. 15 Officer responded to a repc rt of an
intoxicated individual. Subject was
arrested for public intoxication and
was released into custody of
Houston Fire Department to be
transported to Hermann Hospital.
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Rustin, Rachel. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 90, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 22, 2002, newspaper, November 22, 2002; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443153/m1/6/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.