Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Financial Times
May 2, 2008 By Jon Boone, in Kabul
US commanders in eastern Afghanistan want to double the amount of money they spend on military-led reconstruction in an attempt to choke off popular support for Taliban militants.
The call for an increase in special funds, to be spent at the discretion of officers, from $206m last year to $410m (€265m, £207m) this year will help push the US military further into areas traditionally managed by charities and international development agencies.
US forces in east Afghanistan are already involved in a variety of non-military activities, from road-building to improving farming techniques. Interest is increasing in large projects such as hydroelectric and irrigation schemes. The Commanders’ Emergency Response Programme (CERP) allows battalion commanders to spend up to $25,000 on any one project without seeking permission from higher command. Task force chiefs can spend up to $200,000 in a similar way.
The well-funded counter-insurgency campaign in the east has delighted US politicians. They believe that it shows the battle against a resurgent Taliban can be won. Many of the militants, who are intent on toppling the western-backed government of Hamid Karzai, the president, are based just over the border in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas.
Sceptics say that in spite of the strategy, security in the east has deteriorated. The latest report by Safety Office, an Afghan non-government organisation, says the number of attacks by “armed opposition groups” on aid workers has jumped from fewer than 60 in March last year to more than 100 in the same month this year. However, US commanders believe that the increased reconstruction effort is starting to make progress in driving a wedge between insurgents and ordinary Afghans.
Navy Lieutenant Ashwin Corattiyil, the CERP manager for eastern Afghanistan, said: “We are not saying that if we give out $100,000 everything will be perfect. It’s just the first step. The silent majority of people don’t support the insurgency and these projects make a big improvements to their lives.”
US provincial reconstruction teams, joint military-civilian bases, already enjoy larger budgets than other members of the international alliance.
Commanders in Paktika province this year tried to tap into the budget surpluses run up each year by Afghan ministries, which often lack the capability to spend all the international money allocated to them.
If approved, the increased CERP funds are likely to annoy aid charities, which say military involvement in such projects makes aid workers more likely to be targeted by militants.
Matt Waldman, policy adviser for the UK charity Oxfam, said international cash would be better spent by provincial governors and development organisations.
A report published by the UK government on Thursday said provincial reconstruction teams should eventually be scaled back.
May 2, 2008 By Jon Boone, in Kabul
US commanders in eastern Afghanistan want to double the amount of money they spend on military-led reconstruction in an attempt to choke off popular support for Taliban militants.
The call for an increase in special funds, to be spent at the discretion of officers, from $206m last year to $410m (€265m, £207m) this year will help push the US military further into areas traditionally managed by charities and international development agencies.
US forces in east Afghanistan are already involved in a variety of non-military activities, from road-building to improving farming techniques. Interest is increasing in large projects such as hydroelectric and irrigation schemes. The Commanders’ Emergency Response Programme (CERP) allows battalion commanders to spend up to $25,000 on any one project without seeking permission from higher command. Task force chiefs can spend up to $200,000 in a similar way.
The well-funded counter-insurgency campaign in the east has delighted US politicians. They believe that it shows the battle against a resurgent Taliban can be won. Many of the militants, who are intent on toppling the western-backed government of Hamid Karzai, the president, are based just over the border in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas.
Sceptics say that in spite of the strategy, security in the east has deteriorated. The latest report by Safety Office, an Afghan non-government organisation, says the number of attacks by “armed opposition groups” on aid workers has jumped from fewer than 60 in March last year to more than 100 in the same month this year. However, US commanders believe that the increased reconstruction effort is starting to make progress in driving a wedge between insurgents and ordinary Afghans.
Navy Lieutenant Ashwin Corattiyil, the CERP manager for eastern Afghanistan, said: “We are not saying that if we give out $100,000 everything will be perfect. It’s just the first step. The silent majority of people don’t support the insurgency and these projects make a big improvements to their lives.”
US provincial reconstruction teams, joint military-civilian bases, already enjoy larger budgets than other members of the international alliance.
Commanders in Paktika province this year tried to tap into the budget surpluses run up each year by Afghan ministries, which often lack the capability to spend all the international money allocated to them.
If approved, the increased CERP funds are likely to annoy aid charities, which say military involvement in such projects makes aid workers more likely to be targeted by militants.
Matt Waldman, policy adviser for the UK charity Oxfam, said international cash would be better spent by provincial governors and development organisations.
A report published by the UK government on Thursday said provincial reconstruction teams should eventually be scaled back.