Kathy Gannon of the Associated Press writes that many Afghans look forward to the day when U.S. and NATO forces leave in 2014. The Taliban ran things with a tight fist. Thieves had their hands cut off. Now there is corruption among the police and marauding bands of thieves.
Afghanistan continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world, with the average person earning less than one dollar a day despite $32 billion in foreign investment.
The country has also tumbled in corruption ratings assembled by Transparency International. Afghanistan was ranked 117 out of 158 countries in 2005, then slid to 180 out of 183 nations last year. The scandal-ridden Kabul Bank milked millions of dollars from Afghans' savings.
Some Afghans believe their countrymen are responsible for the current state of affairs.
Haji Khalil who moved his family from Marjah to Lashkar Gah during the 2010 offensive, blamed Afghans for the spike in thefts and lawlessness since the defeat of the Taliban.
"During the Taliban no one would steal because we knew the punishment, but when they left everyone began to steal," Khalil said.
"We became worse after the Taliban," he said. "The problem is with us."
One reads stories like this, knowing the bias of the Associated Press and liberal newspapers like The Denver Post. Yet, if there is truth to what is being written, it is very sad that we have sent Americans there to die and be injured or scarred in other ways; not to mention the financial costs.
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