Wilder is right that the wrong kind of "development" projects do more harm than good, but that doesn't mean all development projects are bad. Afghanistan needs lots of labor-intensive projects like clearing canals and digging irrigation ways, which most importantly puts cash into the hands of the poorest Afghans at the end of the day or week. These cash-for-work projects are running successfully in Kabul and many parts of the country, but the need for them is much greater. In these kinds of projects most of the cost is wages for labor, which can be verified by regular headcounts, so corruption is kept to a minimum.
What they don't need is photo-op schools and clinics built in the middle of nowhere with no teachers nor doctors, not even built by Afghan labor, just so the US can say it is engaging in "development." Go in big enough and fast enough on labor-intensive work projects so that neighboring villages don't have to be "jealous" of each other, and give fighting-age males an alternative to the $8 a day the Taliban pays in an environment of 40%-50% unemployment.
Kerry's COINTELPRO talk is nonsense as long as peoples' stomachs are rumbling and men do whatever they have to to bring food home. Focus massive work projects also on the relatively secure cities like Kabul, where much of the population has flocked to anyway to escape the violence.
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· 1 month ago
Wilder is right that the wrong kind of "development" projects do more harm than good, but that doesn't mean all development projects are bad. Afghanistan needs lots of labor-intensive projects like clearing canals and digging irrigation ways, which most importantly puts cash into the hands of the poorest Afghans at the end of the day or week. These cash-for-work projects are running successfully in Kabul and many parts of the country, but the need for them is much greater. In these kinds of projects most of the cost is wages for labor, which can be verified by regular headcounts, so corruption is kept to a minimum.
What they don't need is photo-op schools and clinics built in the middle of nowhere with no teachers nor doctors, not even built by Afghan labor, just so the US can say it is engaging in "development." Go in big enough and fast enough on labor-intensive work projects so that neighboring villages don't have to be "jealous" of each other, and give fighting-age males an alternative to the $8 a day the Taliban pays in an environment of 40%-50% unemployment.
Kerry's COINTELPRO talk is nonsense as long as peoples' stomachs are rumbling and men do whatever they have to to bring food home. Focus massive work projects also on the relatively secure cities like Kabul, where much of the population has flocked to anyway to escape the violence.
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What they don't need is photo-op schools and clinics built in the middle of nowhere with no teachers nor doctors, not even built by Afghan labor, just so the US can say it is engaging in "development." Go in big enough and fast enough on labor-intensive work projects so that neighboring villages don't have to be "jealous" of each other, and give fighting-age males an alternative to the $8 a day the Taliban pays in an environment of 40%-50% unemployment.
Kerry's COINTELPRO talk is nonsense as long as peoples' stomachs are rumbling and men do whatever they have to to bring food home. Focus massive work projects also on the relatively secure cities like Kabul, where much of the population has flocked to anyway to escape the violence.
What they don't need is photo-op schools and clinics built in the middle of nowhere with no teachers nor doctors, not even built by Afghan labor, just so the US can say it is engaging in "development." Go in big enough and fast enough on labor-intensive work projects so that neighboring villages don't have to be "jealous" of each other, and give fighting-age males an alternative to the $8 a day the Taliban pays in an environment of 40%-50% unemployment.
Kerry's COINTELPRO talk is nonsense as long as peoples' stomachs are rumbling and men do whatever they have to to bring food home. Focus massive work projects also on the relatively secure cities like Kabul, where much of the population has flocked to anyway to escape the violence.