Daily Times

International media, once again, spotlighted the issue of corruption in Afghan government institutions. This is not the first time we hear about the corruption stories of President Hamid Karzai’s administration; there are hundreds of reports in national and international press about the malpractices of President Karzai, his cabinet, army generals, police officers and national security officials. Pashtuns across the border ask why brave Afghans accepted enslavement in exchange of shallow financial gain. This is the same story like how Abdul Rahman Khan sold his nation to Britain in 1893. President Karzai says that the biggest source of corruption is the United States. The story began with a new report published in The New York Times. According to the report, CIA has been sending bags of cash to President Hamid Karzai, totalling tens of millions of dollars. More interesting is the fact, the report says, is that the Afghan president and the officials of his government have been on CIA payroll for over a decade, receiving tens of millions dollars in cash.

Corruption in the Karzai administration has become widely recognised as a key challenge for peace and stability in Afghanistan. President Karzai made several commitments to address the issue of corruption in his government but the problem is still widespread. The New York Times report revealed that corruption is being encouraged by US intelligence agencies. US officials and military generals have fixed their own share in the corruption money, they give money to Afghan officials and receive their share. This is not the first time President Karzai receives millions of dollars for his services to Pentagon and CIA; he, however, also received millions of dollars from the Iranian intelligence in 2010. After the US invasion in 2001, CIA paid huge amounts to warlords and so-called politicians, such as Qasim Fahim, Haji Din Muhammad, Karzai, Wali Karzai, Professor Seyyaf, Burhanuddin Rabbani, General Dostum, Atta Muhammad, Ismail Khan, Professor, Mujaddidi, Pir Gailani, Kazi Amin, Sherzai and many other warlords received millions of dollars from CIA. In 2002, CIA gave millions of dollars to Karzai to buy warlords’ loyalties. Generals in the Afghan National Army also receive their share from CIA and Pentagon.

The CIA and Pentagon are now in trouble as to what to do and how to cover this filth but the question is will the US new intelligence agency (Defence Strategic Clandestine Intelligence) will continue this business with Karzai, Afghan army and warlords or not.

In December 2012, President Karzai needed more money to feed the warlords in his government which CIA denied, but then he started criticising the US tactics in Afghanistan, accusing Pentagon of contributing to violence and corruption in his country. Some experts are of the opinion that the CIA gave money to Afghan officials for access to Karzai and his inner circle and to guarantee CIA’s influence at the presidential palace.

In all Afghan state institutions, corruption is widespread. Afghanistan ranks 174 in a list of 176 countries in the Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index. In 2010, the Kabul Bank financial scandal, in which its owners Shir Khan Farnood, Khalilullah Fruzi and Muhammad Fahim were spending one billion dollars for their own personal luxurious lives, international community established a weak and artificial state in Afghanistan having no capacity to build a durable peace process. It is unable to collect revenues and manage public resources. It can neither implement peace accords nor provide public services. Majority of Afghans see the military presence of NATO and the US as the main reason behind their problems of poverty, illiteracy and disease. The NATO, UN and the US have not been able to bring peace and stability and rebuild the country since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. The military strategy for tackling the Taliban insurgency needed a thorough revision. If NATO and the US kill Afghans, humiliate their elders, and bomb their homes, they will never be cooperative in the process of peace making efforts.

War criminals and corrupt factional leaders remain in positions of power within society and continue to maintain criminal militias. Leaders of the Northern Alliance in and outside the government have begun to stockpile arms and take other steps to prepare for a future civil war. Some experts understand that after the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, the US-backed regime will collapse and the civil war might be worse than that in the 1990s when the Soviet army left the country. Kabul will be dominated by violence and torture. The Taliban will return with renewed vengeance. Bad governance or misgovernment is the main factor behind the frustration of civilian population in Afghanistan. Poor eradication management of narcotic drugs is another factor, which supports insurgency and causes alienation in the country. Al Qaeda finances the entire network in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Bad governance is now going to cost both NATO and Afghans. Americans and Afghans blame each other for the problems contributing to the deteriorating law and order in the country.

The Taliban continue to target Afghan civilians and foreign forces. In the first week of April 2013, the Daily Outlook Afghanistan reported Taliban killed 50 and injured 90 civilians in the Farah province. Over the last two months, the Taliban attacked Kabul many times, notwithstanding the fact that thousands of military and police personnel are deployed there. Security situation is getting worse in Afghanistan. Insurgency is gaining weight with each passing day. On April 19, 2013, the newspaper reported more than 15 US-led forces and ten Afghan soldiers were killed by the Taliban insurgents in the Helmand province.

With the escalation of violence in Afghanistan, hopes for peace and stability are fading away. On April 18, 2013, Daily Outlook Afghanistan reported thousands Afghans seeking asylum in western countries and the United Kingdom. This is an indicator of the ground realities in the country. There are grave political and economic uncertainties that have caused Afghans to look disappointingly at the future of their country, and now they are on the run to find a safe place, seeking asylum across the globe.

The writer is author of Policing in Multicultural Britain, can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com