The corruption in Afghanistan is well established and helps to divert foreign aid from its intended purposes into the hands of powerful warlords and friends of the Karzai government. There is a vicious cycle implicit in this situation, namely, that those in powerful positions are able to consolidate their power, while the poor majority of Afghan people see little or no progress out of their misery. In the meantime, US/NATO forces are directed at the "Taliban," leaving the warlords free to keep the corrupt system from which they benefit in motion. Malalai Joya provides background on this problem in her book, A Woman Among Warlords.
"According to an article in the Sunday Telegraph, on January 20, 2007, 'Defence officials in the United States and Britain estimate that up to half of all aid in Afghanistan is failing to reach the right people....
"Endemic corruption combined with the vacuum of leadership in Kabul has made Afghanistan fertile ground for narcotrafficking. Afghanistan is a country capable of growing food to feed its own people, but most of our best agricultural land is planted with poppy seed because it's a cash crop for export"....
A new UN report documents the continuation of corruption in Afghanistan. Here are excerpts from one of numerous reports on the study.
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Corruption deepens poverty in Afghanistan-U.N. report
30 Mar 2010 18:16:49 GMT 30 Mar 2010 18:16:49 Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnews.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE62T1SV.htm
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, March 30 (Reuters) - Corruption is entrenched in Afghanistan, leaving the poor at the mercy of the powerful while security-obsessed international forces often turn a blind eye to abuses, a United Nations report charged on Tuesday.
Despite $35 billion injected into the economy since 2002, one in three Afghans, or 9 million people, live in absolute poverty while another third survive just above the poverty line, it said.
"A key driver of poverty in Afghanistan is the abuse of power. Many Afghan power-holders use their influence to drive the public agenda for their own personal or vested interests," said the report issued by the U.N. human rights office....
"The 26-page report is based on the results of a survey conducted in 14 provinces, interviews with officials and community leaders as well as research by groups including Oxfam.
Many communities believe, rightly or wrongly, that food aid had been either embezzled or diverted elsewhere, it found....
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