I am not trying to float by own boat or act like my earlier comments are earth-shattering or ground-breaking. Actually they are mostly common knowledge and common sense by anyone who has served as an ETT or PMT in Afghanistan. But for several years now I have been talking on this blog (www.bouhammer.com/2009/04/corruption-is-still-a-major-enemy/, www.bouhammer.com/2006/06/way-to-early-to-get-upset-already/, www.bouhammer.com/2009/04/they-are-still-3rd-graders/)and in multiple radio and newspaper interviews that, in my opinion, the top 3 problems in Afghanistan which keep us there and keep the Afghan security forces from taking over are:

1. Corruption

2. Lack of a will to fight (these ain’t your daddy’s mujahideen)

3. No accountability becuase there is no Military Justice system

I have always said that Corruption was number one, but no Military Justice system is the root cause that allow the other two to happen without repercussions. Again, none of this is revelation by Bouhammer, but is fact known to all who are on the ground in Afghanistan. In fact via my discussions with many who were embedded with Iraqi Security forces as MITT team members, they typically saw the same three issues there but not as bad as they are in Afghanistan.

Of course the definition of corruption is in the eye of the beholder. What we in the West may consider corruption, those in Afghanistan may consider a normal way of doing business. Almost like we would consider “networking” or “rubbing elbows” in our country. By their culture and standards, certain things are acceptable and tolerated while we in the US would look at them as reprehensible.

A case in point is when the Army pay officers would come around once a month to pay a Private his $110 monthly salary, they would take $10 from the Private (or any soldier) as a “fee” for having to come down and pay him. Of course when we learned of this as ETTs, we were shocked and jumped on this right away to stop it. I mean, how could a field grade officer who makes several hundred dollars a month take $10 from every soldier for just doing the job he was paid to do? In hindsight I look at this situation and think, absence of any formal banking system or western union, how is this any different from their fees and surcharges? In my western eyes, I know the officer should not be taking the money because the officer is doing the job he is paid to by the Govt of Afghanistan. But I can also see it through their eyes in the fact that he is doing exactly what any banking institution would do. That does not make it right, and I know and still believe that taking $10 from every soldier is wrong, but we are talking about a country that is 2 weeks out of the stone age.

That is a good example of how the perceptions we as a western culture may have must be scaled back and viewed differently when dealing with a country like Afghanistan. But the corruption that Gen McChrystal is talking about (www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/13/mcchrystal-troop-increase-afghan/) is far and above taking $10 from a Private. It is at the level that may de-stabilize the country and cause eight years plus of war to be for naught.

Corruption can lead to citizens rejecting their government and sometimes even aligning with rebel or insurgent groups. That in turn creates chaos that can lead to security problems and long-term instability.

The corruption at the top levels of the Afghanistan Government have widespread reach and show all the soldiers, police, and govt employees that corruption is OK becuase their boss does it, all the way up to Karzai himself. I am no fan of Karzai and have highlighted on this blog many times where he is a tool. He is corrupt, his drug warlord brother in southern Afghanistan is corrupt and many of his appointed officials are too. That is the nature of their society. I don’t think we can or will ever stop it, especially since we can’t stop it in our country (Blago, etc.). But it does need not happen at the highest levels and those at the highest levels must set the example and then hold those that are corrupt accountable for their actions.

A society without laws and enforcement of those laws will be chaos and will turn on itself. We have seen that in the history of this world and we have seen is directly in Afghanistan before.

Others have talked about the corruption in the past also (www.bouhammer.com/2008/08/rip-sfc-david-todd/)