Not aiding the cause
James Forsyth 5:23pm
One of the most frequent complaints that you hear from those who have served in Afghanistan is that DFID is simply not fit for purpose. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Stuart Tootal, the commander of 3 Para who recently quit the army, gives a depressing example of how the DFID bureaucracy puts obstacles in the way of necessary projects:
In the kind of operation that British troops are engaged in in Afghanistan, it is imperative that the aid and military strategies are integrated. It is absurd to try and make projects in a war-zone jump through the same bureaucratic hoops as elsewhere.“The hospital sheets were filthy and the doctor said they couldn’t wash them,” he explained. “But we said, ‘You have an industrial washing machine sitting there in cellophane.’”The US aid agency that had donated it withdrew when the British arrived so it had never been installed.An engineer with Tootal said that could be rectified, but they had not reckoned with the Department for International Development. It saw aid as its area and disliked “quick impact” projects.
“They didn’t want the military going into hospitals and they said we would tread on the toes of an aid agency even though it wasn’t doing anything,” said Tootal. “I said, ‘It doesn’t have to be done under the cloak of 3 Para. We can dress ourselves up as Afghans, do it at night. We just need to fix it.’”
The government officials refused, so for the whole of 3 Para’s six months in Helmand, the machine sat there in its plastic wrapping.
Previous
Comments
Silent Hunter
July 20th, 2008 5:42pmIs there any Labour Government run department that isn't totally crap?
Why are they still in power?
Annabel Herriott
July 20th, 2008 5:59pmSend in Florence Nightingale! We need someone like her to kick a bit of ass.
Frank
July 20th, 2008 6:20pmWhy on earth did the paras not just do it? Surely the jobsworths couldn't have stopped them.
Anthony
July 20th, 2008 6:40pm"Why on earth did the paras not just do it? Surely the jobsworths couldn't have stopped them."
It does rather beg that question, doesn't it?
That said, James is right. Listening to British officers one of the things that comes through time and time again with regard to Afghanistan is just how bad the relations between the MoD and DFID have become. In many quarters frustration has boiled over into fairly poisonous, active dislike. The only thing I would say is that it's far from clear to me that the problem lies in the fact that the department is under a Labour government. I think it's pretty structural/institutional and I see little reason to believe that it would be better under a Conservative government.
John Page
July 20th, 2008 7:07pmIs this the best that Douglas Alexander can do?
Probably.
Alf Tupper
July 20th, 2008 7:55pmYossarian would have understood fully what is going on here.
Hysteria
July 21st, 2008 12:10amwhilst it is difficult to second guess the officers in the paras, it is a bit odd that they just didn't get it done - what could the jobs worth have done about it?
Mildly_Malevolent
July 21st, 2008 5:55am"whilst it is difficult to second guess the officers in the paras, it is a bit odd that they just didn't get it done - what could the jobs worth have done about it?"
Er. They had a war to fight?
Hysteria
July 21st, 2008 2:28pmbut enough time to argue about it ? And it may not have been the paras - but the support element troops (engineers, mechanics etc) -
I've been on operations and you can get the resources if you want....
BS postcode
July 21st, 2008 6:53pmDon't just blame Douglas Alexander. Even though he's stupid. It's genetic. Look at his sister.
He's also got a PPS.
sensible
July 22nd, 2008 10:01pmyou couldn't make this up.
I think the ideal solution would be to be for the Paras to put in the washer, do the sheets, and get DFID to go and clear out the Taliban from the rest of Helmand...