31 January 2008
Strengthening Afghan Governance a U.S. Priority
$23 billion in U.S. aid promoting security, opportunity
Washington -- A top U.S. priority in Afghanistan in 2008 will be to help its leaders deliver essential services, security and economic opportunity to its citizens, says a senior State Department official.
“People want the government to provide them with safety, with justice, with economic opportunity, with health care and education,” Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee January 31. “When the government provides that, the situation stabilizes. The poppy [growing] goes down. The Taliban get kicked out.”
From 2001 to 2007, the United States has contributed more than $23 billion as part of a long-term pledge to help Afghanistan emerge from decades of war and oppression. This year, Boucher said, will see an even greater emphasis on strengthening governance on both national and local levels.
“We've found that if we provide good governance in places, we see development; we see security,” Boucher said. “Good governance, and the benefits of governance, is what really make the difference in Afghanistan. Those are the things that will win the war.”
Since 2001, the United States has provided the Afghan government with more than $1 billon to train a new generation of leaders as they pursue essential political and legal reforms. These will set the groundwork for a vibrant civil society that emphasizes democratic principles through the rule of law; accountable, transparent government; human rights; and religious tolerance.
In 2008, Boucher said, the United States will dedicate $500 million to enhance Afghan governance capacity building, along with additional funds through joint civilian-military provincial reconstruction teams. Approximately $91 million more will go into expanding Afghanistan’s court system at the provincial level.
But security, essential to future development, remains the leading U.S. aid expenditure. In addition to its leading role in the 39-nation, 41,000-strong, NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), the United States also has provided $15.4 billion in security assistance programs to train a new generation of Afghan soldiers and police officers to safeguard their nation by confronting crime, extremism and narcotics.
This investment is paying off, said Boucher, who told senators that Afghan forces are increasingly taking the lead in securing many parts of the country, with ISAF forces playing a supporting role.
Boucher said that many of the 3,200 additional U.S. Marines announced by President Bush on January 28 will serve beside ISAF, but approximately 1,000 personnel would be charged with stepped-up training efforts, particularly for police, whose development has lagged behind that of the Afghan army.
Boucher also expressed hope that the new U.S. deployments would convince other NATO allies to help fill critical shortfalls, particularly in Afghanistan’s less secure southern provinces. (See “NATO’s Stake in Afghanistan Is High, Shortfalls Must Be Met.”)
Security sets the stage for reconstruction, Boucher said, and expanding security and prosperity through new roads, electricity, education and agricultural development is another U.S. priority.
“Where the road ends, the insurgency begins,” Boucher said, “and that's the opportunity that's provided by infrastructure, by roads and electricity.”
Since 2001, the United States has contributed $4.4 billion toward thousands of development and infrastructure projects, including the nearly completed Afghan Ring Road and the $38 million Pyanj River Bridge, the rebuilding or renovation of more than 650 schools, and a host of other initiatives to revitalize farms, businesses and communities.
More than 4,000 kilometers of roads have been completed and construction is under way for 20,000 new homes for Afghans returning to Kabul. More than 4,000 new medical facilities have opened during the past three years, giving more than 80 percent of the population access to medical facilities, compared with only 9 percent in 2004.
“Where we have succeeded in Afghanistan is where we have been able to provide a combination of military force, good governance and economic opportunity,” Boucher said.
“We've done that successfully in many places, but we have to do it in all the places if we're going to succeed fully.”
The text of Boucher’s prepared statement is available on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Web site.
