| Corruption in Afghanistan still a problem, former ambassador says The Brown Daily Herald
03/02/2004
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Once security measures are established, Afghanistan's future as a nation centers on the institution of an all?Afghan government, former ambassador to Afghanistan Robert Finn told an audience in Salomon 101 Monday evening. Finn — who was ambassador to Afghanistan between 2002 and 2003 — helped to orchestrate the loya jirga that wrote the new Afghan constitution for the post?Taliban government.
According to Finn, the state of Afghanistan has improved greatly since the implementation of the constitution and changes in currency, and nationwide elections in June will continue that progress. The constitution specifies elections of a president and a parliament, and current Afghan president Hamid Karzai supports fair elections, Finn said. In order to make progress in security and development, a centralized political system with a strong, supported president is necessary, he said. Finn said the transition toward democracy, although slow and deliberate, is feasible in Afghanistan — the warlord system in the villages and provinces runs on consensus, a class system has not been formed and common men do not hesitate to "tell off" the president. But he said the command?economy legacy of the Soviet Union permeates parts of the Afghan government and the attitude that private investment is a government cash cow that must be overcome. "Corruption in government was endemic (immediately following the expulsion of the Taliban) and remains a serious problem," Finn said. But government corruption is the least of Afghanistan's current problems, he said, citing security, infrastructure, narcotics and an absence of basic public services as major problems that can be improved with a combination of greater international funding and organized Afghan government. According to Finn, international aid to Afghanistan amounts to merely $50 per capita, while Bosnia received $1,400 per capita in aid after its civil war. Additionally, the Kabul government receives no tax revenue from provinces, and its only source of domestic funding is duty stations on the border. This lack of funding has slowed the development of infrastructure necessary to implement a centralized government, he said. In 2002, phone lines did not exist between the Afghan provinces and Kabul, and a trip between Kandahar and Kabul took up to 18 hours. Phone lines and a road that shortened the trip to a third of its previous length have improved government control and security. "It's harder (for criminals) to stop a car that's moving 60 miles per hour than it is to stop a car moving six miles per hour," Finn said. Besides the inadequate infrastructure, Finn said Afghans also suffer from an overloaded education system, a national army that is fractured along ethnic cleavages, poor health services that cause 15 percent of Afghan women to die during childbirth and a lack of economic development that has fed a drug culture. Rebuilding the national army and police force would offer jobs to a generation that has always been soldiers while helping to ease ethnic strains, Finn said. Currently, 7,000 soldiers have been trained and deployed into the Afghan provinces. But jobs must be created for those who do not want to be in the national army in order to reduce the nation's economic dependence on its opium trade, he said. According to Finn, few realize that before civil wars ravaged the country, Afghanistan was the fifth?most underdeveloped country in the world. Development of alternative crops and a zero?tolerance policy on narcotics are necessary to stop Afghanistan from turning into a "narcomafia" state, he said. "Once an exporter of food, (Afghanistan) is now an exporter of opium," Finn said. Finn said the development of government, industry, infrastructure and non?biased police will protect Afghan security. The Taliban gained support, he said, by offering security to a nation constantly torn by the factious rule of warlords. A supported central government will reduce the ubiquitous prescience of quiet Taliban support — the Taliban has been able to infiltrate the country and is responsible for 400 deaths since hostilities officially ended, Finn said. As the country unifies around a government, and the factions and warlords battle politically instead of violently, Finn said he thinks support for the Taliban will further dwindle. During the question?and?answer portion of the lecture, Tahira Dosani '04 asked how monumental elections would be considering that only one million Afghans are currently registered to vote. Finn said ideally 50 percent of Afghans will be registered to vote by the first election, but the formation of democracy is an ongoing process and voter registration should increase with subsequent elections. Michael Soule '06 and Lindsay Broockman '05 both said they found Finn's speech insightful because of his separation from politics and the American media. Finn is currently the resident ambassador and professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University. Major news networks offer limited information about Afghanistan and focus it on the United States budgetary involvement, Broockman said, and Finn offered a more thorough perspective. Soule said he appreciated Finn's direct analysis and blunt answers, which he was able to give because he is not a politician. "A parliamentary system stops people from killing each other on the streets — instead they get into a room and yell at each other," said Finn. "This is an improvement."
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