CIA overview of Afghanistan economy and some reminders of CIA involvement

The information below, following my comments and quotes from another source, is from a section of the CIA's latest World Factbook, a section offering an overview of the Afghan economy. The thrust of the CIA's analysis is that Afghanistan is among the poorest countries in the world and any economic gains are mostly linked to international assistance. The statements begin by referring to how the "economy is recovering from decades of conflict."

Keep in mind, that the U.S. has been a direct or indirect actor in the conflict from 1979 and thus bears some responsibility for the current conditions of the Afghan economy. Before going to the CIA's information, here are just a few reminders about the history of U.S. involvemen from David Wildman and Phyllis Bennis' very informative book, Ending the US War in Afghanistan: A Primer. I quote parts of a section of their book, where the authors respond to the question "What is the history of US involvement in Afghanistan before 9/11?" (After these quotes, I go to the CIA "overview.")

"Throughout the sequence of empires that have risen and fallen in the region, the land is now Afghanistan, a nation-state since the middle of the eighteenth century....

"The US was not directly involved in Afghanistan until the Cold War. In 1973 Afghanistan's monarchy was overthrown, and a republic declared. A left-wing rebellion in 1978 resulted in the creation of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (PDPA). The PDPA was a community party whose program tended toward liberal, secular, and socialist reforms, building on some of the social reforms (including outlawing the purdah, a form of isolating women from social contact) that had started in Afghanistan in the 1950s. Although much of the reformist social agenda did not reach beyond Kabul, land reform and support for farmers in the rural areas were high on the PDPA agenda. At least in the cities, Afghan women played a major role in the emerging political and economic life of the country....

"President Jimmy Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, began a secret campaign of arming, training, and funding Islamist guerrillas known as the Mujahideen against the government in Afghanistan, funneling arms and US and Saudi money through Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. One of the Mujahideen leaders was the young Osama bin Laden, whose organization trained and funded the ISI- and US-backed Mujahideen....

[....]

"In 1985 Reagan's CIA director, William Casey, crafted National Security Decision Directive 166, which provided the legal justification for a huge escalation of the CIA's role inside Afghanistan. During that time the Reagan administration also became special patrons of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, head of one of the most powerful and most extreme Islamist guerrilla organizations. Hekmatyar had the closest ties to the ISI, received most of the funds from the US and the Saudis, and was the main recipient of the much-coveted Stinger anti-aircraft misiles provided by the US.

"From 1985 on, the US- and Pakistan-backed Islamist guerrillas escalated the fight against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The violence forced almost half the population of the country from their homes, and millions feld Afghanistan to seek refuge in neighboring Iran or especially Pakistan...."

CIA World Factbook
Afghanistan: Economy-Overview
Last updated August 19, 2010
http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/goes/af.html


Afghanistan's economy is recovering from decades of conflict. The economy has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 largely because of the infusion of international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural sector, and service sector growth.

Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, weak governance, and the Afghan Government's inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. Afghanistan's living standards are among the lowest in the world.

While the international community remains committed to Afghanistan's development, pledging over $57 billion at three donors' conferences since 2002, the Government of Afghanistan will need to overcome a number of challenges, including low revenue collection, anemic job creation, high levels of corruption, weak government capacity, and poor public infrastructure.