Bush Administration Seeks $10.6 Billion in Afghan Aid
25 January 2007
Reconstruction aid would target transportation, infrastructure
Washington -- The Bush administration is proposing $10.6 billion in U.S. aid to Afghanistan in conjunction with the January 26 NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels, Belgium, which will focus on international support for the country.
A senior State Department official said January 25 that $2 billion of that total would be used for civilian reconstruction aid, and $8.6 billion for military assistance to train and equip the Afghan army.
The official said the new aid proposal is “a big increase,” noting that since 2001, the United States has provided a total of $14.2 billion in aid, $9 billion of which was used for security assistance and $5.2 billion for reconstruction, humanitarian and governance assistance.
According to the official, the timing of the announcement with the NATO ministerial meeting was no coincidence. “[W]e’re trying to make a point – a political point as well to NATO.”
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack cautioned that the pledge is “just a proposal” because the U.S. Congress would need to approve the amount as part of the Bush administration’s 2007 supplemental budget request.
The administration intends to give the full amount, “but Congress has a say in this,” he said.
Much of the reconstruction assistance would focus on the building of roads, a key area of need in the country.
“It is critical in a couple of respects: the very practical effect of people being able to move around more easily in Afghanistan, [and] the very practical effect of the farmers being able to get their goods to market,” McCormack said.
The improvement of roads “goes hand in hand” with efforts to stem poppy and other narcotics cultivation in the country, he said, since the current road system has discouraged farmers from growing perishable agricultural produce because it often spoils before getting to market.
Other basic infrastructure improvements, such as to Afghanistan’s electricity grid and irrigation system, also will encourage the Afghan people to build a “legitimate economy,” as opposed to producing narcotics, McCormack said.
Prior to 2001, Afghanistan under the Taliban had “a very, very rudimentary economy,” and the country does not enjoy many natural resources. McCormack said international donors want to help the Afghan people rebuild their country so that it is “fully integrated” with the modern international system.
“You don't want to build an Afghan economy that is built on foreign aid and illicit narcotics production. That is not good for Afghanistan nor the Afghan people, nor the international system,” he said.
For more information on U.S. policies, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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