Corrupt Government Forces Afghans To Spend More Than 1/3 Of Income On Bribes

[StarfarerBill]

Run time: 02:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcEUJbbCV4g   Posted on YouTube: January 20, 2010 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: January 21, 2010 By DU Member: StarfarerBill Views on DU: 400

 
A new report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reveals that bribery consumes an amount equal to 23 percent of the GDP of Afghanistan. Afghans are forced by corrupt government culture to pay more than a third of their income in bribes. Earlier this month, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported that 3/4 of all their active corruption investigations involved at least one Westerner.

Learn more at http://rethinkafghanistan.com

[Better Today]

1. And this differs from what taxpayers HERE pay through taxes

and profits to corporations to assure our own government corruption?

You know, it is bad, but we have no place to judge till we clean up our crap, which the SCOTUS just made a mile deeper today.

[StarfarerBill]

2. We prop up the Afghan government with our aid and our troops.

By withdrawing both, we can at least end our part in the corruption.

External aid can help Afghanistan; but it has to be on the Afghan people's terms, not ours.

[Better Today]

3. Okay this sounds entirely naive. Sorry.

[StarfarerBill]

4. No need to be sorry; you wouldn't be the first to call me that.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the part we can play in ending Afghan government corruption is by ending our part in it; not being our country or our government, that's all we can do.

[Better Today]

5. No, look at US for an example.

WE have no occupying troops, nor are we getting tax monies from other countries in any direct way; so we should have corruption that only includes Americans, right? . . . no, our's in Afghanistan is quite open at the moment, but even if our troops and taxes are pulled out, our monies will still be funding their corruptions as is does in many many countries.

I'm all for getting out of Afghanistan, it's just that this reason is one of the "reasons" that won't be changing even if we pull out our troops.

There will be corruption, and our hands will be all over it in one way or another.

[StarfarerBill]

6. One big difference here: *our* country versus *theirs*.

We of course must do all we can, publicly and privately, to root out and clean up corruption here. In Afghanistan, all we can do is leave...and by leave, I mean extract not only our aid, troops, advisors, etc., but also all Western corporate influence; the rest is up to the Afghan people. All external assistance should come through the UN, period.

And let me point out something: if we can't take out our corrupting elements in Afghanistan, what chance do we have of doing it here where it's so much more pervasive? We either work to do it right, or don't do it at all; the last year has shown us that incrementalism, tiptoeing around a problem, and outright surrender to the corruptors usually only makes things worse.

[Better Today]

7. We haven't removed our corrupting hands from anywhere else,

What makes you think Afghanistan is or will be any different.

Like I said to start with, you are naive. I won't be sorry as you recommend.

Their is no difference either where you're trying to create one with the "theirs" vs. "ours". Our corruption has finger prints from many many nations, some western, some asian, some arabic, some jewish,. . . .


Corruption is a global plague, a plague on most levels of most all governments and their related police/security/military forces and there has never been found a solution to it anywhere that I've ever read about.

You have a great dream, impossible to resolve for any meaningful amount of time.

[StarfarerBill]

8. Perhaps; but if we don't try to realize our dreams, we may as well give up altogether.

Anyway, check out this website; it's for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, and can tell you a whole lot better what life is like there than I can: www.rawa.org/

Thanks for the exchange. :)

[Po_d Mainiac]

9. Yup The Afghans are getting a bargain in comparison..n/t