The Afghan President's Overreach

[RAO RAMEEZ]

President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan is known for occasionally being hot-tempered. But it was nonetheless baffling to Western diplomats when, in recent days, he abruptly demanded that the United Nations Development Program, the agency that manages hundreds of millions of dollars provided by Western donors to run the police force, relinquish responsibility for the fund within six months.

Mr. Ghani seems to think the Afghan government, despite its history of endemic corruption, could do a better job. He has complained that the agency spends too much on overhead managing the fund, and he seems intent on moving swiftly to establish himself as a bold, visionary leader. But transferring the fund, known as the Law and Order Trust Fund, would almost certainly make it vulnerable to the kind of theft that has been routine in Afghan ministries over that past decade of war.

American taxpayers have much at stake in controversies such as this, as the war enters a new phase. As tempting as it is to think of the Afghan war as receding in the rear view mirror, the United States remains deeply embroiled in the conflict. President Obama celebrated the nominal end of America’s combat mission last month, vowing, with unfounded optimism, that the country was “not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again.”

However, his administration opted to retain significant military operations in Afghanistan, where roughly 10,600 troops continue to serve. Washington has also committed to continue spending billions of dollars to keep Afghanistan’s fledgling security forces afloat.

The U.N.D.P. is not without critics. In September, the inspector general who oversees American reconstruction funding wrote a letter warning that the agency had failed to address suspected fraud committed by officials at the Afghan Interior Ministry who had taken “dubious” deductions from police salaries.

Since January 2011, the U.N.D.P. has paid out more than $1.62 billion that has been used largely to cover the salaries and pensions of Afghan police officers. The United States and its allies have contributed more than $3.1 billion to the fund since 2002.

Western diplomats say the United Nations agency has done a reasonably good job managing the money in a country where some level of misappropriation is seen as inevitable. Western donors agree that Afghan ministries should eventually assume more responsibility for managing international aid, but the six-month deadline Mr. Ghani has imposed appears unrealistic and arbitrary.

Mr. Ghani, a former World Bank executive, understands how donor funds are handled. He has spoken out candidly and forcefully about the need to battle corruption in Afghanistan. What he has yet to do, though, is propose a credible alternative to improve the delivery and spending of Western aid.

To accomplish that, Mr. Ghani, who assumed office in September, must first focus on getting a cabinet in place. Currently, the security ministries are without permanent, empowered leaders.
Mr. Ghani also would be wise to begin negotiations that might chart out a reconciliation process with the Taliban, a goal that eluded his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. After years of fighting that have taken an awful toll, most Afghans appear to be supportive of a peace process.

A State Department poll conducted in late October found that a growing number of Afghans favour amnesty for Taliban leaders, according to a summary of the findings obtained by The Times, findings that have not been previously disclosed. The poll found that 66 percent of Afghans would be amenable to amnesty for insurgents if it paved the way for a peace deal. Strikingly, 62 percent of women voiced support for that idea, up from 45 percent in 2010.

That type of deal, which represents the only hope for truly bringing the Afghan war to a close, will take adroit leadership in Kabul. Mr. Ghani’s desire to oust the U.N.D.P. hastily does not instil much confidence that he is setting the right priorities in a very difficult job.

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The New York Times.