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The Only Way to Avoid Chaos in Afghanistan
The Obama administration could use this opportunity by imposing conditions on its financial assistance to the Afghan government based on achievable benchmarks. The Afghan government could be fixed and some of the following measures could be implemented quickly:
1. Reducing the size of the cabinet in order to simplify the process of decision making and avoid unnecessary competition among ministries over resources,
2. Creating a mechanism for hiring senior government officials based on merit rather than based on nepotism and political pressures,
3. Delegating some of the president's decision-making authority to ministers and provincial governors,
4. Appointing provincial and district governors in consultation with elected provincial councils,
5. Speeding up reconstruction and economic development efforts in the stable provinces, in order to make them successful examples,
6. And creating a special court in order to indict drug-traffickers and corrupt senior officials, even those who had served the previous eight years.
These measures could be implemented in a very short period of time with vigorous political will both within the Afghan government and the donor countries, which have high stakes in the country.
The Taliban are not an invincible force, but they have been able to reemerge and exert their influence because of a vacuum of government authority following their defeat in 2001 and also due to distrust of the Afghan people from their government.
I strongly believe that the U.S. military surge combined with improved governance will create a new momentum in Afghanistan as a precondition to defeat the Taliban and stabilize the country.
Haroun Mir is the director of Afghanistan’s Center for Research and Policy Studies.
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Garvagh
Iran is trying to prevent the return of the Taliban to power in Kabul, and last year $2.5 billion was sent to Afghan families from Afghan workers in Iran (most working illegally). Iran says supporting the Afghan families in this way helps them to stay free of the Taliban. Shouldn't the way forward include helping Iran in its efforts to keep the Taliban out of Kabul? Iran says the US troops have made things worse, not better.
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