The world will mark the 15th anniversary of its military operations in Afghanistan under a dark cloud. After all the efforts of a coalition of 40 powerful countries, over US$1 trillion spent and thousands of uniformed lives lost, the primary objective of the mission undertaken in 2001 has not been met – and war has become the seemingly insurmountable status quo for Afghanistan.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secretly delivered “tens of millions of dollars” to the office of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai for more than a decade after the removal of the Taliban regime, claimed the New York Times on Sunday, citing current and former advisers to Karazi, who came into power in December 2001.
Afghan citizens handed out roughly $3.9 billion in bribes last year, claimed a study by the United Nations on Thursday, with nearly half of Afghans surveyed claiming that they had to bribe a public official, while nearly 30 percent paid to bribe for a private sector service.
Torn apart by a decade of war and destruction, Afghanistan is appealing for $7 billion in foreign aid each year over the next decade to grow its economy.
In an interview with Reuters, Afghanistan’s central bank governor Noorullah Delawari said the withdrawal of Western troops and foreign aid will cripple Kabul’s already fragile economy and pose a serious threat to its national security.
According to an official, Afghanistan’s oil extraction will begin within the next five months, as the nation expands its efforts to tap its oil reserves, estimated to be worth billions. The Amu Darya Basin, where the extraction work will be done, is estimated to hold almost 90 million barrels of oil.
Government officials in Afghanistan are growing increasingly concerned over the massive amounts of money being flown out of its capital city of Kabul each year, said a report by the Financial Times on Sunday, as money laundering and corruption activities continue to undermine the fledgling government.
Afghanistan Economic Forecast Over the past eight years, the United States has provided financial assistance and been involved with foreign investments to help boost Afghanistan’s struggling economy. Although Afghanistan has had a strong agricultural industry, a serious four-year drought caused significant damage to the economy.
