The Afghanistan donor conference in Paris

i know several folks who were there...

Donors led by the United States pledged about $20 billion in aid to Afghanistan on Thursday but said Kabul must do far more to fight corruption.

The lion's share of the assistance, $10.2 billion, was put forward by the United States at a Paris conference that exposed frustrations both at the inefficiency of the Afghan government and the failure of donors themselves to coordinate their aid.

Six-and-a-half years after U.S.-led forces toppled the Islamist Taliban government, Afghanistan is still grappling with an insurgency, drug trafficking, corruption and poverty.

there's no way in hell that the afghan government is going to fight corruption when the senior members of that government are among the chief beneficiaries along with the mega-u.s. contractors like louis berger, dyncorp, kbr, etc...

the photo below was taken yesterday approximately a block from the offices of the project where i worked and lived up until last friday morning...


A disabled man begs on a roadside
in Kabul June 12, 2008. Donors led
by the United States pledged more
than $16 billion in aid for Afghanistan
on Thursday but said Kabul must do more
to fight corruption and the international
assistance must be better coordinated.
REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

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