Helping a war-torn neighbor

The Reuters-quoted US State Department official was correct in seeing the Istanbul Process meeting in Beijing as "a real demonstration of China's commitment to Afghanistan".

The new aid packages Premier Li Keqiang announced, along with the five-point proposal about the Afghan issue, are proof that Beijing's rhetoric about "firm support" will not be what he warned against, merely "verbal commitment".

While speculation about US-China geopolitical gaming in the war-torn country has little foothold in reality, Chinese interest in a peaceful and stable neighbor is real and unmistakable.

Afghanistan's future depends ultimately on the Afghans. What the departing US-led NATO forces are leaving behind is a painful mess from a prolonged outsider military intervention. The broken social fabric in Afghanistan can be repaired only by reconstruction on the basis of national reconciliation, which, too, rests on the Afghans themselves.

We wish Afghanistan well. But what Li has committed to - $330 million in aid for the next three years plus expansive training programs for the years to come - indicates China will be more than a neighbor of good wishes. It will help.

We must assist Afghanistan not only because we have been on good terms historically, dating back to the Silk Road at least. Or because we have a moral obligation as a regional player. Or for the business opportunities Afghan reconstruction promises. But because we have very real interests in preventing the spillover of terrorist threats from across shared borders.

Afghanistan needs substantial outside assistance to rebuild its economy, which is at the same time essential to eradicating the hotbed for terror. That is where our participation can easily be broader and deeper under the Istanbul Process, of which we are a member.

Beyond that, in addition to doing our bit, urging committed others to do theirs, and facilitating results-oriented cooperation, this country also has a role to play in Afghanistan's political reconciliation process.

That is easier said than done. Indeed, things are trickier in Afghanistan. And we have a long tradition of non-intervention that has served us well.

Nor should we cross that line in Afghanistan.

Yet we can contribute to our neighbor's reconciliation endeavors. Helping Afghanistan is helping ourselves, because anything conducive to brokering peace in Afghanistan will eventually benefit us as well.

This does not mean taking over the political and security mess the West is leaving behind, though.