With Iraq falling apart at the seams, one might desire that Bush's previous foreign adventure is doing much better. However, a look at
today's news seems to eliminate any hope that it might be going well. How did this happen? What could possibly drive so many Afghans to fight on behalf of the Taliban? The answer lies in previous experience in Iraq, where a
combination of Bush administration incompetence and corruption led many Iraqis to rise up against the occupation in that country.
A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor describes what, exactly, is turning so many Afghans against the US-backed government.
Afghan reporters focus on roots of insurgents' unrest
Greater access to the Taliban makes for a better story, but it comes at an increased political price, Tolo reporters say. "When I met the Taliban, they told me they were fighting because there was corruption and criminal people in the government. And when I reported that story I faced a lot of trouble," says Momand.
Indeed, much of the same high level misdeeds we see in Iraq appear to be widespread in Afghanistan as well. Creating a pluralistic secular society is dependent on a strong central government that can economically provide for its citizens. Nation-building is incompatible with the
free market fundamentalist philosophy of the Bush administration that has so far created
two failed states.
Below are some examples of the corruption that permeates Afghanistan's reconstruction process.
Corporate Profiteering: A report by Afghan-American Fariba Nawa exposes how contractors receive massive profits for doing shoddy work on rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure. It describes, "A highway that begins crumbling before it is finished. A school with a collapsed roof. A clinic with faulty plumbing. A farmers' cooperative that farmers can't use. Afghan police and military that, after training, are incapable of providing the most basic security. And contractors walking away with millions of dollars in aid money for the work." [CorpWatch, 5-2-2006]
Governmental Graft: Corruption within the government of Afghanistan is said to be even more widespread than it was under the Taliban. [Toronto Star, 5-11-2006]
Global Neglect: The international aid organizations are failing to use input from the locals when putting forth funding to rebuild the country. It describes a school refurbished by USAID that "looked like an emergency had just hit." [The Independent, 5-18-2006]
Abusive Police: Many of the police chief candidates who might be appointed by Hamid Karzai are implicated in activities such as "murder, torture, intimidation, bribery, government corruption and interfering with police investigations." [Human Rights Watch, 5-4-2006]
Disappearing Funds: A former Afghan planning minister describes a "mafia system" in which government officials, diplomats and aid workers collude with each other to bilk Afghanistan of its reconstruction funds. He is quoted as saying that "I don't know any real reconstruction in Afghanistan. Afghans are living in tents in Kabul, schools in Kabul don't have chairs, tables or books." [Al-jazeera, 4-17-2005]
I am more than willing to add more examples if anyone can find any.
Here is a good place to start of course.
It is important that we document the Bush administration's terrible nation-building skills so that we can learn from them and know how too avoid such problems in the future. The Afghan people deserve much better than this. They should not have to choose between theocracy and kleptocracy. But if we keep following Bush's path, it seems likely that they will get both.