‘Touch wood,’ Karzai said to me. You hear it all the time
31 May 2008
From the President downwards, all Afghans know that the peace in Helmand is precarious.Fraser Nelson reports from a shattered land of corruption and murky power where warlords wait to see if the West has what it takes to stay the course and thwart a horrific new conflict
British troops have now realised that the industry is impossible to eliminate by edict or at gunpoint. Legitimate crops never make it to market, as the roads are strewn with African-style customs officials imposing tariffs. Typically, Afghan farmers survive winter with a loan from a heroin dealer who is repaid in poppy crop. Should he default, he will have to forfeit his land or, in the worst case, his daughter.
So British troops are keen to stress they will not take away poppies, knowing that to do so is a sure way to send otherwise starving farmers into the hands of the Taleban. The soldiers I spoke to say they go to extraordinary lengths to assure Afghans they will not deny them their crop. I saw one government paper that referred to the ‘one to two decades realistically needed before the opium economy dwindles’. Production has halted in the safer 18 of the 34 provinces — but if it is poppies or starvation, there is no choice.
Economic power in Afghanistan rests with those who control the drugs trade. ‘They have integrated themselves into our new government effortlessly,’ one official moans. ‘It will be the local police chief, or his brother. The local governor, or his cousin. And the political corruption comes in the form of a phone call saying, “I’m getting some heat from the border police, can you get them off?”’
To Mr Browne, this is a huge stumbling block in attempts to establish the Afghan government’s legitimacy. ‘Both the perception and the reality of corruption are endemic in Afghan society and destabilising the government. How do we get a peasant farmer in Helmand to obey the law and not grow poppy if he sees some important people in this country got very rich due to corruption? It is a problem I focus on in all of my conversations with ministers.’
Nato has even drawn a power diagram laying out the de facto power base. It is a classified document — a shame, because it perfectly depicts Afghanistan’s governance problem. At the centre lies the theoretical power structure: President Karzai and his Cabinet. Then beneath, it has another diagram of the nepotistic links. Mr Karzai is at the middle with links to his brother (an MP who hasn’t attended parliament so far this year), his second cousin (another MP), uncle (a minister), etc. The same diagram is drawn for others.
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Water
May 29th, 2008 11:02am Report this comment"Only in Afghanistan could the rockets being fired into the Kandahar airbase be seen as a sign of progress" surreal.
Water
May 29th, 2008 11:15am Report this comment"Only in Afghanistan could the rockets being fired into the Kandahar airbase be seen as a sign of progress" surreal.
Water
May 29th, 2008 11:55am Report this commentGlad to see the posting system is working as normal.
Ray
May 31st, 2008 10:13am Report this commentThe most cutting comment on this whole tragic imbroglio comes from Charles moore writing in the Telegraph... "Why have we allowed ourselves to fantasise about ideal states, rather than exerting our power to make the best of real ones? Afghanistan won't have democracy as we know it; it won't suddenly want its women to wear jeans and choose their boyfriends; it won't forget tribe and embrace diversity. Perhaps this is a statement of the obvious, but, in our rather sanctimonious politics, the obvious is not always easily stated."
Ed Hummer
May 31st, 2008 2:41pm Report this commentHe was probably told to say ¨touch wood¨instead of the ubiquitous and equally meaningless Inshallah to any infidels he met.
Praetorian
May 31st, 2008 10:01pm Report this commentI am returning to Helmand for a tour of duty this Sep. I thoroughly recommend this article as it is the most informative and accurate one I have read on the situation in both Helmand and wider Afghanistan. Our presence in Helmand guarantees nothing except that the Taliban will not regain control. However, that is worth fighting for, the alternative is a terrorist sanctuary from which further attacks will be launched against the West. I hope the politicians keep their nerve and start to make a better case for our engagement.
Mungo Lockhart
June 9th, 2008 2:16am Report this commentA very good article - we are in for the long haul.
Note the milder comparison with Mexico where I live. Narcotics bosses apparently offer their front line Governmnent opponents a choice between cooperation or a bullet. This is not a choice.
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