Afghanistan is also difficult because of a new democracy emerging from the shadows of a brutal regime. Last year, of course, the Taliban announced they were going to go on the offense; in fact, our coalition went on the offense and, from a security perspective, made some progress against the Taliban. The best progress, though, is the advance of better-trained police forces… as well as a better Afghan army, which over time needs to provide the security for the country. Iraq will probably — progresses quicker because it’s got wealth. Afghanistan is broke.
—President Bush, trying to justify why he has consistently cut funding and personnel for Afghanistan until very recently. Or trying to show how Iraq is better off. Or not really understanding a thing about how the country operates. Or something.
His wife is there, too, just in time for a fresh wave of violence that also resulted in the death of a BBC journalist. It is telling she goes on a brief field trip from Kabul to Bamiyan, and that’s it. How can this tell her anything about the country, even while Hamid Karzai is explaining Afghanistan needs $50 billion in infrastructure development assistance to have a chance?
It can’t. While I appreciate the attention she’s paid to the country—unlike her husband, she’s seems to harbor a genuine interest and empathy for the place—it is difficult to see what she’s accomplishing with her trip. The disconnected elites in Kabul can tell you only so much; without understanding the worsening situation in the south or east, or even a previously calm province like Baghlan or Baghdis, what value comes of going to watch some Kiwis do a dance in the sand?
Perhaps this is unfair: after all, as First Lady, Ms. Bush does not craft policy. There is still no word yet on whether or her husband will try to find some way to serve in the heady romanticism of Afghanistan once he leaves office… perhaps by still giving up golf in 2009. Such noble sacrifice, no? Maybe his family could spare a few dollars for an NGO, or you know, not systematically undermine the reconstruction efforts anymore. We can at least hope.
This post was written by...
Joshua Foust – author of 1771 posts on Registan.net.
Joshua Foust is a Fellow at the American Security Project and the author of Afghanistan Journal: Selections from Registan.net. His research focuses primarily on Central and South Asia. Joshua is a correspondent for The Atlantic and a columnist for PBS Need to Know. Joshua appears regularly on the BBC World News, Aljazeera, and international public radio. Joshua is also a regular contributor to Foreign Policy’s AfPak Channel, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Reuters, and the Christian Science Monitor. Follow him on twitter: @joshuafoust
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Cluelesses. What are the chances of getting that full $50 billion?
It’s pretty amazing to see Karzai blown off virtually every time he makes a request. Would it hurt the U.S. that badly to acquiesce to Karzai once and awhile, to at least give the appearance that he has some pull over U.S. policy?
It is at least demonstrative of one fact: there are areas of Afghanistan that are peaceful enough for Mrs. Bush to stroll in and shoot the breeze. Americans tend to grasp situations as a binary of “all is well” or “all is going to hell,” and in either case they proceed to ignore and forget the issue/area. So how about sending more aid and money to Bamiyan?