US seeks concrete reforms from Karzai

WASHINGTON—The United States has expressed concern over “unacceptable” levels of corruption and deteriorating security in Afghanistan and sought concrete reform steps from President Hamid Karzai. “There is serious problem of governance in Afghanistan,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy to the United Nations, on Monday.
“At the national level, corruption exists at unacceptable levels. At the provincial and district levels, especially in contested areas, government, particularly police, too often is weak, ineffective, sometimes non-existent and sometimes even predatory,” he told an American-Afghan business conference.
Karzai, an Afghan-American and former envoy to Kabul, said security, particularly in the south, had been deteriorating, and escalation of Taliban attacks had made much more of the countryside insecure, leading to reduction in reconstruction and economic development.
He listed other problems, including “too much polarization” among Afghan political leaders, the growing illegal opium economy, high unemployment and the lackluster pace of reconstruction.
Key reforms, Khalilzad said, should include making appointments based on merit, countering corruption, implementing program for institutionalizing the rule of law and working systematically to stamp state authority and good governance at the provincial and district levels.
“President Karzai has committed himself to this objective, he has promised to direct his government to advance these goals. We look forward to seeing the concrete steps that are needed to realizing this vision, and now,” he said.
Karzai also sought greater international commitment to support Afghanistan’s development and “improve the regional context for stabilizing” the nation under threat from Taliban militants.
“The stakes for the international community are enormous in Afghanistan,” he said. “The sucess of Afghanistan is crucial for the wider efforts to stablize and create progress in the broader Middle East,” he said.
The NATO-led 37-nation ISAF and a separate US-led coalition, totaling about 55,000 foreign soldiers, are fighting with Afghan security forces to block the return to power of the hardline Taliban Islamic militia ousted in 2001.
The United States has criticized some NATO members for being unwilling to deploy troops to the volatile south and east of Afghanistan. Khalilzad said restoring security in Afghanistan was “a test of the ability of NATO to prevail in a key theatre in the defining challenge of our time.”
On the problem of “political polarization,” he said Afghan leaders should unite behind their “national interest. “There is nothing wrong in debating different perspectives or with political competition, provided that this takes place within a framework of national unity that serves the nation’s interest and does not harm Afghanistan’s long term interest,” he said.
“Leaders should be concernd about all Afghan people regardless of their ethnic or sectarian background and should reject the approach of seeking to divide Afghans because of ethnic and sectarian issues,” he said.
Corruption among Afghan officials is rife and government must be reformed to help end 30 years of war, misery and oppression, President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday in an unusually frank assessment of his country’s woes.
Large profits from Afghanistan’s $3-billion opium crop, funds skimmed from aid and reconstruction contracts and bribes for services fuel official corruption, weaken public faith in the government and increase support for hardline Taliban insurgents.
“We have seen a lot of misery in this country, but still we have not learned a lesson from our mistakes. The luxurious houses and buildings either belong to government staff or members of parliament,” Karzai told a meeting of village elders in Kabul. The capital Kabul and other cities are currently undergoing a building boom with gaudy villas springing up in wealthier neighborhoods while the poor live in mud huts with no running water or electricity. After Karzai spoke, an old man rose to his feet.—Agencies
“There is something I can’t tell you, but if I don’t tell you I will feel guilty inside,” he told the president who urged him to speak his mind. “The government and cabinet members are sucking the blood of innocent people, we can’t tolerate the corruption in every government office,” he said. “Yes, you are absolutely right,” replied Karzai. “I appeal to all Afghans, especially those in power, to work hand-in-hand to build, to serve this country without deceiving and exploiting it.”
Afghanistan is ranked 172 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption perception index. Official graft is one of the factors that has allowed opium production to rise to record-breaking levels, the United Nations says, it also weakens the grip of government on many regions — both factors which boost the insurgency.