Afghanistans Reconstruction Fueled Corruption and Insurgency

Americas longest war in Afghanistan is entering its sixteenth year. October 7, 2016 will mark the 16th anniversary of direct US intervention in Afghanistan in the aftermath of attacks perpetrated by the terrorist group Al Qaeda on September 11, 2001. Osama Bin Laden used the failed state of Afghanistan (under the control of the Taliban) to hatch the plan of attack on the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon. The US objective at the time, under the banner of a global war on terror, was to dismantle Al Qaeda and bring its leaders to justice. We were able to rout the Taliban and Al Qaeda in a rapid manner over the course of several days. The US accomplished this blitzkrieg with our overwhelming airpower, Special Forces and the participation of militias mostly from the Northern Alliance warlords.

Rank and file Afghans were overjoyed and came out in the streets, many shaving off the beards imposed on them by the Taliban as a religious edict. People believed that the US led intervention, followed by the participation of other countries, was a ticket for Afghanistan to put its devastating troubles of the prior twenty years behind it. But what ensued dashed these hopes and was instrumental in a resurgent Taliban insurgency, active again by 2006. As the perceived or actual king makers of Afghanistan, we gave the warlords and their militias legitimacy instead of pressuring the Afghan leaders to clean house and marginalize them. The warlords and their militias who eventually became the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) reinstituted a culture of impunity and corruption. As legitimate leaders and members of the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) they took corruption and lawlessness to even higher levels. The ANSF was seen not as a protector of the people, but predators preying on peoples property, money and helpless sons and daughters. This is the narrative that the Taliban have used so successfully to resurge again.

There has been much soul searching in Washington and elsewhere about what went wrong in the effort to rebuild Afghanistan as a viable nation state. Despite spending much blood and treasure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, the situation in the country remains precarious at best.

The congressionally mandated Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has the task of tracking American taxpayers money. SIGAR also participates in the soul searching as to what went wrong in Afghanistan. In its recent report, titled Corruption in Conflict, the head of SIGAR John Sepko wrote that the US government did not "fully appreciate the potential for corruption to threaten the security and state-building mission in Afghanistan. The US government also failed to recognize that billions of dollars injected into a small, underdeveloped country, with limited oversight and strong pressures to spend, contributed to the growth of corruption," the report says.

The report notes: The United States helped to lay a foundation for the continued impunity of malign actors, weak rule of law, and the growth of corruption. U.S. money was flowing to the insurgency via corruption. People turned to the Taliban as a way of expressing opposition to the government. Malign actors within the GIROA support insurgent groups directly, support criminal networks that are linked to insurgents, and support corruption that helps feed the insurgency. To the extent that corruption undermined the states legitimacy and capability by eroding public confidence in the government and hollowing out institutions, it posed a potentially fatal threat to counter insurgency (COIN) efforts.

The current Afghan National Unity Governments (NUG) mandate is about to expire in October. There is uncertainty about its future. The distrust between NUG and Pakistan continues unabated despite Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis many efforts to foster a better relationship between the two countries. Pakistan is unwilling to abandon their surrogates (the Taliban) or persuade them to enter meaningful peace negotiations with NUG. ISIS has been trying to gain a foothold in eastern Afghanistan which is another challenge to NUG.

A potentially optimistic recent development was the signing of a peace accord between NUG and a notorious warlord and terrorist, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, on September 29, 2016 . Although Human Rights Watch called Hekmatyar "one of Afghanistan's most notorious war crimes suspects," the international community has welcomed the development. But given Hekmatyars past history as the butcher of Kabul, it remains to be seen what beneficial effect the accord will bring.

The US is not prepared to abandon Afghanistan anytime soon. But moving forward and beginning year number seventeen, it is imperative to seriously consider lessons learned. NUG needs to be held accountable to do their part in reducing corruption and the culture of impunity. It must convince the disaffected Afghans that it is a better alternative than the armed groups. Otherwise, business as usual will not produce the desired result, which is a secure and peaceful Afghanistan.