An Excess of Corruption and a Deficit of Toilets Essay
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An excess of corruption and a deficit of toilets: american and Karzai’s ‘successes’ in Afghanistan by Marc W. Herold * “Are we to decide the importance of issues by asking how fashionable or glamorous they are? Or by asking how seriously they affect how many?” - Nelson Mandela , 2002 1 “The preservation of the wealth and welfare of nations, and advances in culture and civilization depend upon how the sewage question is resolved” - Karl Kautsky , 1899 2 “The triumphs of sanitary reforms are perhaps the brightest page in the history of our century” – William Allen , 1903 3 Afghanistan might be characterized as villas sprout up, western fashion swirls, having a paucity of toilets and an excess four cell phone companies operate, and of corruption. These two aspects capture imported foreign Thai masseuses at the the post-Taliban essence of the country. luxury Mustafa Hotel tended to the The “achievements” of Hamid Karzai weary and bored at the rate of $25 an the de facto mayor of Kabul, the United hour. 7 States and NATO in Afghanistan after Kabul has turned into a two-tiered city. more than eight years of U.S. With billions of dollars in aid pouring in, occupation and approximately $25 some Afghans have found well-paying billion in disbursed (2001-9) non- jobs with international companies or in 4 include Afghanistan being military aid, the bloated community of non- ranked as the worst place in the world governmental organization – often for sanitation (per UNICEF data) and in th businesses dressed-up as Mother 2009 posting 179 (out of 180 8 Teresa. But most labor for only a dollar countries) in Transparency or two a day and live in mud-brick International’s corruption-perceptions homes with no water and sporadic 5 The latter figure for 2005 index. electricity. An average police officer or showed Afghanistan ranking 117 th out teacher is lucky to earn $60 a month. A of 159 countries. hospital nurse earns $40 a But as I have pointed out many times month…International groups willing to beginning in early 2002, for some in pay Manhattan-level rents, (pricing) Kabul and a few other islands in the many Afghans out of the market. Before Afghan sea, life is jolly-well in the Taliban fell, Abdul Fatah, 24, paid Afghanistan’s post-Taliban, bifurcated about $13 a month to rent a house. Now economy. 6 Limousines roll, ostentatious an international aid agency pays $2,500 130 for the building. 9 The monstrous waste subsistence, nomadic and vibrant and utter futility was summed up marketplace economy in the recently in a German magazine, informal sector; and a dependence upon outside 'dollars' as the Defense expert Amy Belasco necessary fuel for economic estimates total US expenditure (in prosperity in the Intercontinental. Afghanistan) by 2011 to be $445 Such international funds be billion. To put that into perspective, disbursed in cash form, history that's more than three times what strongly suggests the kleptocracy in all the OECD nations together place will first line its pockets. The spent on development aid around Karzai vision is, thus, the globe in 2009. Estimates consumptionist, western, and suggest that up to 80 percent of international trade-oriented (incl. American money flows right back heavy import dependence and into the US through consultancy earning foreign exchange from fees, corporate contracts and services whether oil pipeline fees or 10 exported goods. tourism, and traditional Afghan 12 The outlines of Karzai’s exports like carpets and fruits). “Intercontinental model” of The only thing which needed to be development were already visible added is the huge poppy/opium export 11 during the spring of 2002. As I wrote cash economy which flourishes under eight years ago, the reign of Hamid Karzai, famously A bi-furcated, externally-driven, known as the “Gucci guerrilla” hanging spatially segregated economic out in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in system, managed by foreign Islamabad during the late 1980’s. The 'trained' and foreign-backed elite is director-general of the Afghan the image of tomorrow's government’s main anti-corruption 'successful' Afghanistan, agency, a Mr. Wasifi, a childhood friend representing the limit of of Karzai, is an ex-con who spent over development possibilities [and three years in a Nevada state prison for imagination] under the trying to sell $65,000 of heroin to an Intercontinental model of Karzai & 13 Associates. The Kabul undercover agent. His wife, who had Intercontinental Hotel serves as a stood as lookout in the Las Vegas’ powerful metaphor of this 'vision.' Caesar’s Palace hotel corridor, received 14 The 'vision' must be driven by a probationary sentence. The brother of certain hard facts: a 'demand Hamid Karzai living in Kandahar is profile' determined by social class reputed to be one of the country’s drug and income realties; a particular king-pins. But the limousines roll, no 'insertion' of the Karzai regime in doubt another indicator – along with a the international politico-economic luxury construction boom – of order; and a specific emerging post- civilization restored in post-Taliban Taliban class and power structure. Kabul. Well-healed Kabulis ride in one Very descriptive attributes of this 'vision' include spatial segregation of the new limousines offered by a (Kabul and the 'Rest'); utter recently opened rental service, Shams irrelevance to the masses of Limousine, owned by Afghan, Said 15 impoverished Afghans; the co- Maqsud. The service operated three existence of the Intercontinental albeit used, stretch Lincolns shipped in Hotel 'model' alongside and from Los Angeles. The number has since separate from a huge traditional, increased to six. The Kabul City Center 131 mall could be in a large American city, Washington D.C. e.g., the Pentagon City Mall in On the left, the Kabul City Center (Source: http://themoderatevoice.com/30687/kabuls-new-elite-the-foreign- consultants/ ) and on the right, the Pentagon City Mall in 2003 (Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pentagon_city_mall.jpg ) A vast largely empirical academic from the need to bribe an electrician to literature exists on the effects of secure a connection to Kabul’s electrical corruption upon societies. 16 Most of it grid, to extortion by gun-toting city decries the adverse economic traffic policemen, to corrupt judges, to consequences from an alleged retarding the buying of government positions effect upon economic growth, though including those of senior police this remains disputed. Others point to positions 20 , embezzlement by high-level the negative effects of corruption upon employees of enterprises (such as at allocative efficiency and innovation. Far Ariana Airlines 21 ), to the highest levels less emphasis is devoted to studying the of government including ministers. An implications of corruption for income electronics shop owner in Karzai’s inequality which seems to be the Kabul laments, “Even robbery victims primary effect in Afghanistan with its won’t go to the courts because you have high degree of economic openness to pay a bribe.” 22 A report published in (import dependence, vast capital 2008 by the Agency Coordinating Body inflows) and, of course, huge for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) noted that a underground drug economy. 17 full one-third of the $15 billion aid The detrimental effects of corruption monies disbursed to Afghanistan follow obscure channels, sucked up in the and drugs upon Afghanistan’s society 23 18 Another and economy are widely recognized. “black holes” of corruption. Some go so far as to note nostalgia forty percent of it – or $6 billion – goes back to donor countries in corporate exists for the Taliban insofar as at least profits and inflated consultant salaries. 24 under their clock, crime, corruption and drugs were absent. A culture of The other side of the coin is rampant impunity reigns in Afghanistan. Police poverty and extreme inequality, and the notorious Directorate of precisely what is expected in the bi- Intelligence regularly torture and kill furcated economy constructed by the with no consequences. 19 Corruption western puppet, Hamid Karzai. Much thrives at all levels of Afghan society, could be written about this. 25 The poor 132 masses live existentially differentiated epidemics spread due to poor sanitation from the better-off strata in society by among other reasons, similar threatening being permanent carriers of parasites in conditions persist in Third World their bodies and by “living in shit” to countries today. Easterlin has argued use the apt words of Mike Davis (to this that rather than the market, it was public need be added that they also live in very policy initiatives based upon new crowded spaces). 26 Under very knowledge of diseases and new conservative assumptions, some 230 institutions during the nineteenth century million kilos (or 230,000 tons) of non- which were essential to the improvement disposed shit accumulate in Kabul per of human life expectancy both in the year. 27 The origins of the global Third growing cities and nationwide in the World sanitation crisis lie in the United States. 32 In other words, local practices of colonialism when European government action on sanitation is empires simply refused to provide called-for. modern sanitation and water Technologies providing either dry or wet infrastructures in their colonies’ native 28 low-cost sanitation exist in numerous neighborhoods – explaining Third World countries. 33 Improved incidentally why Latin America which provision of sanitation can be thought of overthrew the colonial yoke during the as a sanitation ladder going from very Bolivarian revolutions of the early cheap basic pit latrines to improved pit nineteenth century fares relatively better latrines, pour-flush facilities using water as regards sanitation than Africa and and septic tanks, up to connection to much of Asia.