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Obama Boosts Aid, Troops for Afghanistan, Pakistan
FrontLines - May 2009
By Ben Barber
President Barack Obama laid
out a new U.S. strategy for
Afghanistan and Pakistan on
March 27, increasing military
force and civilian aid to “disrupt,
dismantle, and defeat al
Qaeda in Pakistan and
Afghanistan.”
“Our troops have fought
bravely against a ruthless
enemy,” Obama said in
Washington. “Our civilians
have made great sacrifices.”
He pledged increased aid.
The president ordered an
additional 17,000 U.S. troops to
Afghanistan to defeat al Qaeda
in Pakistan and Afghanistan,
“and to prevent their return to
either country in the future,”
and 4,000 troops to train an
Afghan army and police.
“This push must be joined
by a dramatic increase in our
civilian effort,” said the president.
U.S. specialists in agriculture,
education, engineering,
and government would help
Afghanistan’s government
eliminate corruption and win
Afghans away from Taliban
recruitment.
USAID will be growing
to carry out parts of the new
strategy.
“This is the biggest recruitment
for USAID since the
Vietnam War,” said Jim Bever,
head of the Agency’s
Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force.
Some 450 people are to be
hired.
Obama backed increasing
aid to Pakistan from $600 million
to $1.5 billion each year for
five years as proposed by Sen.
John Kerry (D-Mass.) and
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).
The money will go to build
schools, roads, hospitals, and
democracy. He also backed
creation of industrial parks
known as reconstruction
opportunity zones along the
violent Afghan-Pakistan
border region to develop the
economy.
U.S. aid to Afghanistan
would no longer be shortchanged
due to the burden of
the war in Iraq, said Obama,
who called for help in reconstruction
from the International
Monetary Fund, the World
Bank, and other donors.
USAID expects to double
staff in Kabul to 500 and
increase Islamabad staff by 60
percent to 250 to deal with
“increasingly perilous” situations
in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, Bever told FrontLines.
The Agency will seek 165
American citizens to fill new
positions in the two Asian countries
and an equal number of
Foreign Service Nationals.
In addition, some 105 people
will be hired by September
to staff the Provincial
Reconstruction Teams delivering
aid in Afghanistan. These
will include Foreign Service
Officers, contractors, standby
reserve corps, and even some
newly hired Development
Leadership Initiative officers.
Obama vowed to clamp
down on abuse or inefficiency
in the U.S. aid program,
saying: “the days of unaccountable
spending, no-bid contracts,
and wasteful reconstruction
must end.” He said he will
increase funding for strong
inspector generals for State,
USAID, and Afghan
reconstruction.
A white paper on U.S.
policy towards Afghanistan and
Pakistan, also released March
27, said that “a complete
overhaul of our civilian assistance
strategy is necessary.” It
called for creation of agricultural
jobs as the way to combat
al Qaeda’s appeal.
Raising living standards of
local people, especially ordinary Pakistanis along the
border region, is vital, says the
paper. The new strategy also
calls for using the media to
counter al Qaeda and Taliban
propaganda.
Pakistan stands to gain economic
assistance, including
budget support direct to its government,
as well as helicopters
and training for its army and
security forces.
|
FIRST SCHOO L: Pakistani boys attend their first school, set up
by USAID beside the Indus River in a camp for people displaced
by an earthquake in 2005. Classes included basic hygiene and
Urdu language. The United States is strengthening aid to
Pakistan and Afghanistan.
|
The new assistance strategy
is based on “clear, hold, and
build” tactics, said Bever,
with U.S. and other security
forces clearing and holding
areas from Taliban influence
followed by USAID building
roads, markets, schools, and
clinics. “We did it in Iraq and
we’re going to do it in
Afghanistan,” Bever said.
Bever and Deputy Secretary
of State Jacob Lew visited
Pakistan and Afghanistan in
April. It was the first trip overseas
by Lew since he became
deputy secretary, with responsibility
for U.S. foreign assistance
budgets. He initially visited
The Hague, where he joined
foreign ministers from 80 countries
to shore up support for the
fight against al Qaeda and the
Taliban.
Bever said the new U.S.
strategy for the two countries
includes “a shift to the east and
south of Afghanistan,” where
support for agriculture and jobs
is intended to “drain the
swamp” of the insurgency.
The strategy also calls for
improving the training of Afghan
government officials to deliver
services and a media campaign
to promote the Afghan government’s
role in improving living
conditions.
Bever noted that millions
of girls and boys are in school,
the death rate for children has
fallen sharply, clinics and
schools are open across most
of the country, and average
income (not derived from
poppy) has grown by 9 percent
a year recently.
Some U.S. aid will also be
directed to the internationallybacked
Afghan Reconstruction
Trust Fund and the Afghan
government’s National
Solidarity Program. USAID
will also help the Afghan
government increase revenue
collection from taxes, fees,
and customs.
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
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