Corruption is one of the main factors behind the increasingly dire situation in Afghanistan. Since 2001, billions of dollars have poured in and yet, there is little to show for it. To a large extent, much of what hinders the present Afghan government is its inability to tackle systemic cronyism and bribery. In fact, as more aide money comes in, such corruption has become more pronounced. As the Washington Post noted a few weeks ago, “although [Afghan President Ahmed Karzai] announced a new anti-corruption unit this week, the president has been reluctant to fire scandal-tainted ministers in the past, and it is unclear whether he is ready to do so now.” Because of ubiquity of the problem, writes the Post’s Joshua Partlow, “Afghans’ perceptions that they are ruled by a thieving class have weakened support for the government and bolstered sympathy for the Taliban insurgency.”
3 Comments so far
Leave a comment
subalternate.wordpress.com 
Corruption is endemic to corporately controlled slave states of the American Empire. Indeed, Islam frowns vehemently on institutional crime. Somalia, for instance, successfully threw off the institutions promoting ‘democracy’ and meaning ‘what’s yours is mine’…necessitating another profitable ‘military intervention.’
Comment by opit April 5, 2010 @ 1:11 amWhat this has to do with a dirt poor people dominated by wars over control of the poppy lies more in the budget for foreign ‘Black Ops’ than domestic initiatives : which are sure to be misrepresented in the ‘media’ in any case.
Proof of that is casting the ‘Taleban’ as the enemy ( al Qaeda, where art thou ? ) : foreigners ( ! ) resisting the mercenaries of the West among people suffering chronic starvation.
I think you have some blinders on here. 1. No one mentioned Islam here…so that point is moot. 2. Pakistan, for example, is very corrupt and it has been so for a very long time. What corporate interests have been behind the corruption there? Burma is another very corrupt place. Is that because of ‘Black Ops’? I say no. And your take on democracy is rather pessimistic.
Comment by subalternate April 5, 2010 @ 1:23 amNever hear of the British Empire ? Colonialism has many ongoing inheritances.
Comment by opit April 27, 2010 @ 6:44 pmMy take on ‘democracy’ is pessimistic indeed – and includes the knowledge that calling a system of representative government democracy starts the spin from the get-go.