Burying Our Heads in Afghan Sand

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I just left a bigass comment over to the Globe an' Mail on a story about the Afghan detainees. I've ranted more than once about the detainee issue but it's in the news again and I'm rantin' again. I'm recyclin' most of my G&M comment here on my own little boog.

60%-70% of prisoners handed over to Afghan authorities are only held only briefly before they are able to bribe their way out of jail. See: http://www.newsweek.com/id/107576/page/1

Q: Why do we fail to follow up on detainees to make sure they do not pay $20 and go back to the Taliban front lines?

A: We are so afraid of confirming that we are in violation of international law that we look the other way while two crimes are committed: bribery and torture.

Q: Why have we given in to Afghan demands that we resume detainee transfers?

A: Afghan soldiers and police only make $4 a day. They need the bribes to survive. Bribery has been an integral part of the Afghan economy for centuries. If we keep the detainees or follow up on their treatment, Afghan soldiers and police lose the opportunity for much needed extra cash.

Many so-called Taliban who are delivered for bounty to NATO forces are not Taliban at all. Tribal and family rivalries routinely see Afghans kidnapped for ransom or turned over to NATO, then by NATO to Afghans. From there, the age old system of bribery, pay-offs and torture goes into effect.

Before 9/11, the Taliban and the Northern Alliance were in a civil war. Neither Taliban nor Northern Alliance are concerned with human rights. The Taliban was able to seize power precisely because of the abuses of the warlords who we've helped restore to power. We are simply taking the side of one group of thugs over another.

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a warlord-ruled narco state that operates with Sharia Law enshrined in its brand new constitution. No Canadian should have to put his or her life on the line for these tyrants and drug dealers.

JimBobby

Bribe for Good, Not Evil

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I floated this idea once or twice before but I think it's time to dredge it up again. Here are a few premises I'll start with:

• Money talks.
• Afghanistan is a corrupt society where has bribery flourished for centuries.
• 50% of Afghans live on less than $1 a day
• Canada spends $1.3 million dollars a day on the Afghan war.
• We aren't making significant progress; we may be losing the war.
  

Okay, so here's my idea. Instead of throwing money away on American made war machinery and paying our troops to fight and capture Talibans only to have them bribe their way out of jail, we should bribe the entire Afghan population.

Drop money from airplanes and helicopters. Warn the Afghans that the money drops will cease if they don't put the kibosh on the Taliban. The Taliban pays its recruits $12 - $14 a day. The Afghan National Army pays $4 a day. Give the good guys enough money so they can pay better than the bad guys. If there are any good guys, that is.

Bribery is an entrenched way of life in Afghanistan. We need to accept that fact. Because we're so afraid of learning that our Afghan allies torture prisoners, we turn a blind eye to all detainee treatment. In doing so, we turn a blind eye to the fact that 60% -70% of Afghan prisoners are able to bribe their way out of jail -- sometimes in hours, sometimes in weeks; sometimes after they've been tortured, sometimes before being tortured.

Bribery has proven itself to be more powerful than NATO's military might. We should use bribery to our advantage. Admit that Afghanistan is run by a corrupt central government with corruption pervading every level of authority. Use that knowledge to shape the nature of the state.

Why send our kids to die when we could just bribe our way to success? I contend that it would be much cheaper and safer.

Currently, it costs NATO something like $1200 for every Taliban killed or captured. Since the captured ones are back out on the battlefield shortly after their capture, we're paying double or even triple when we are forced to fight the very same men again and again.

Never mind sending troops. Never mind trying to build schools. (Since 2001, 624 schools built. In 2007, 590 schools destroyed.) Never mind trying to clean up the government. Never mind trying to eradicate the opium crop.

Just bribe the entire population.

If they will sign up for frontline Taliban fighting at $14 a day, imagine the loyalty we could buy with a $6/hour minimum wage.

Change the climate in Parliament.

JimBobby