Thought #39
March 2009
Author: Bill Thurston
Afghanistan
History of Afghanistan
Ahmad Shah Durrani unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in
1747.
The
country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until
it won independence from British control in 1919.
The
Soviet Union invaded in 1979 touching off a long and destructive war.
The
USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by anti Communist rebels
and international support.
A
series of subsequent civil wars saw Afghanistan finally fall in 1996 to
the Taliban.
Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, a
US, Allied, and anti Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled
the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden.
In
2001 Afghanistan established a process for political reconstruction that
included the adoption of a new constitution, a presidential election in
2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005.
Despite gains toward building a stable central government, a resurgent
Taliban and continuing provincial instability remain serious challenges
for the Afghan Government.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
Afghanistan General Information
It's
slightly smaller than Texas and has about 34 million citizens.
It's
mostly rugged mountains with plains in the north and southwest.
Most
Afghans are Sunni Muslim 80% or Shia Muslim 19%.
Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on
foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries.
Afghanistan is one of the weakest governments in the world.
Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate roughly
$3 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of
Afghanistan's most serious policy concerns. Most
of Afghanistan's drug money supports terrorist activity. Afghanistan
supplied 93 percent of the world’s opium in 2007.
International pledges made by more than 60 countries and international
financial institutions for Afghan reconstruction reached over $57
billion from 2002 to 2009.
United States Position with Afghanistan
This information comes from a report to Congress (Jan 2009) in
accordance with the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act January
2009.
The Taliban regrouped after its fall from power and has coalesced into a
resilient and evolving insurgency.
Narcotics remain a significant challenge for Afghanistan. The
flourishing narcotics trade erodes the legitimacy of the Afghanistan
government and provides financial means to the insurgency. Widespread
poppy cultivation in the country calls into question Afghanistan’s
resolve in tackling this criminal behavior. Efforts to stop the trade
have moved the growers to less accessible areas.
Afghanistan is hampered by pervasive corruption and a lack of sufficient
leadership and human capital.
Afghan Ministries lack resources and are all too often permeated by
corruption, entrenched bureaucracy, and weak leadership.
The lack of educated staff with experience in project management
constrains the ministries’ abilities to implement plans and deliver
public services at all levels.
Afghan courts suffer from corruption, a lack of trained judges, a lack
of competent staff and a lack of resources.
Security is another key issue for the Justice system in Afghanistan. In
September 2008 the Chief Judge of a national level narcotics court, was
murdered.
Public corruption remains pervasive in Afghanistan and the government is
widely viewed as extremely corrupt among the Afghan populace.
Afghanistan’s human rights record remains poor and human rights abuses
continue. Most abuse is committed by the insurgents but untrained and
inexperienced government elements have also committed abuses.
Political will to address these issues through sound economic
policymaking and structural reform has been lacking within the Afghanistanleaders.
In
2008, global economic and climatic conditions severely strained
Afghanistan’s food supply.
The
U.S. commitment to Afghanistan is strong. Above all, achieving our
strategic goals in Afghanistan will require a sustained effort to
develop the capacity of the Afghans themselves.
Since 2001, the U.S. has pledged over $32 billion and dispersed
approximately $22 billion.
Building a fully competent and independent Afghan government will be a
lengthy process that will last, at a minimum, decades.
Our 2010 Defense budget will
include providing $7.5 billion, as requested, for Afghanistan Security
Forces Fund.
Obama vowed to "accelerate our efforts to build an Afghan Army of
134,000 and a police force of 82,000 so that we can meet these goals by
2011.
The
U.S. government has spent at least $16.5 billion to
train and equip Afghan army and police forces. Experts say realizing the
new Obama endgame of turning over security responsibility to the Afghans
will take time, money, and far more resources than have been committed.
Obama has pinned high hopes on Afghanistan's security forces, and is
committing additional U.S. troops to improving their lot. As many as
four thousand additional U.S. military trainers are expected to deploy
to Afghanistan in coming months, and coalition partners have said they,
too, will bolster mentoring efforts.
“Afghanistan’s citizens often view the police more as a source of fear
than of security.” International Crisis Group report, August 2007.
The
U.S. military provides the bulk of the training to Afghanistan's
security forces. Allied efforts needed in the war by
December 2010 need to grow. That could mean an extra 1,600 NATO forces
would be needed at a time when the Obama administration has had
difficulty convincing allied forces to send more than a token few.
But
even more pragmatic challenges than international trainers loom. For
one, analysts say police and soldiers are paid more to fight for the
Taliban. The Afghan government pays $100 per month versus $300 a month
from the Taliban.
Final Thought
Afghanistan is a small, poor, politically corrupt, legally corrupt,
uneducated, major drug producing, safe haven for enemies of the United
States. Human rights records remain poor and human rights abuses
continue. Of all the
humanitarian efforts we support, should this activity be near the top of
our list? Maybe we should destroy their present and future drug trade
(that supports our enemies) and assure it isn't a safe haven for our
enemy and then be done.