Karzai's corruption pipe dream

By Dave Anderson:

The San Fransisco Gate is carrying a great whopper of a tall tale:

With his reputation sullied by the messy election, Karzai gave assurances Sunday that he would rid his government of corrupt officials.

"Individuals who are involved in corruption will have no place in the government," Karzai said in an interview with the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service.

Karzai also said donor countries share some of the responsibility for rampant corruption because of a poorly structured system to manage projects. The U.N. and some donor countries have also cited the need for a more efficient system to guarantee that the money serves the Afghan people.

Corruption from Western cash flows or natural resource smuggling are the most profitable businesses in Afghanistan. As soon as the corruption welll dries up and it is not replaced by other means of making a decent living, the motivation of thousands of individuals employed by the Karzai government will fall considerably. The Afghan government has insufficient local revenue sources to pay efficiency wages instead of locally minimal market clearing wages as it is. Karzai's foreign patrons, the US included, have not shown a willingness to fund projects that pay efficiency wages either. For instance the Afghan National Police has an average pay of $110 per month, which is above average market rates, but significantly below that of the $10 per day Taliban or the Afghan National Army. The Atlantic has more:

the policemen contend with one of the most fanatical and militant groups in recent history�all for a monthly salary of around $110 (about 7,000 Afghanis). While this is an improvement over the average monthly Afghan income of $25, it is nearly two and a half times less than that earned by the Afghan National Army (whose training is admittedly more rigorous, and whose missions are considered more involved than the routine but dangerous patrols carried out by the police). In light of this, one might imagine that everyone would simply sign up for the army instead of the police, but the army has quotas, which makes it more difficult to get into.

Given the widespread discontent about the rate of pay, it�s not surprising that the police force is rife with corruption and bribe-taking. Talk with any taxi driver or farmer in Lashkar Gah, and you�ll hear stories about police shakedowns.

Throw in multiple national interests and national security bureaucracies running their own operations, and corruption will be endemic. For instance, Bruce R at Flit recounts a "police station" near Khandahar that was a bit odd:

But a year ago in Kandahar, there was at least one "police station" on a convenient secondary import/export route that had no apparent formal connection with the rest of the ANSF and no mentoring presence, and twice to my knowledge officers from ANA 205 Corps attempted to take action to seize armed men or weapons they had identified near the city and were told by higher authorities in their own chain of command to back off. In all 3 cases, the president's brother was cited as the dodgy guys' employer. The ANA more or less concluded that he was untouchable, at least as far as they were concerned.

As long as there is massive cash flows going into Afghanistan without a credible threat of the spigot being shut off, and an unwillingness to crack down on foreign corruption, local corruption will be an endemic and profitable business for those who are get a slice of the pie. The Karzai elites are better off being corrupt bastards propped up by ISAF even as their corruption weakens their long term hold on power if ISAF ever left. If Kabul ever fell, there is always Swiss numbered accounts to enjoy while sunning on the French Riveria.

UPDATE from Bruce R in comments regarding wage gaps: For the record, the gap in pay between the ANA and ANP has largely
closed. First-year soldiers/police officers in both services are paid
at $120 a month currently.