Nov 20, 2010

12th October 2010

Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies was pleased to host Gen. H.R. McMaster, head of Major Crimes Task Force-Afghanistan (MCTF-A) and his delegation at CAPS on 12th October 2010.

General McMaster spent time in Iraq and was a close confidant of General David Patreaus. He has authored a book titled, “Dereliction of Duty” which sharply criticized the U.S. political and military brass for mishandling the Vietnam War.

The Director of CAPS, Mr. Hekmat Karzai welcomed Brig. Gen. McMaster and his team to CAPS and expressed his gratitude for Gen. McMaster and his team for the work they have endeavored in Afghanistan. Following Mr. Karzai’s brief introduction of CAPS, Miss. Mariam Safi, Head of Research, presented the institute’s profile outlining the activities and projects carried out by the centre’s three departments the Research department, Legal department and Youth Council.

Brig. Gen. McMaster discussed the workings of his taskforce which is undated with the heavy mission of fighting corruption at the state-level. MCTF officers are responsible for overseeing the work of the Afghan police and intelligence officials as well. The Brig. Gen. expressed concerns about the right tools and mechanisms with which his team can effectively address the issue of corruption in the Afghan government. Brig. Gen. McMaster also posed some difficult questions for the CAPS team and was enthusiastic to hear their perspectives on the issue. He stated that it was critical for Afghans to assist the fight against corruption which he argued would be impossible without their assistance. The Brig. General thanked CAPS for hosting his team and showed much interest in the research projects and other activities CAPS has undertaken so far.