The United States boasts of its proud tradition of nation-building. After World War II, ‘the reconstruction spending by the United States greatly increased the security of the rest of the world.’

Today, global security is said to be directly linked to ‘addressing the socioeconomic roots of terrorism by “devoting resources to narrowing the gap between the global haves and have-nots.” And there are few places on the planet in greater need of a massive reconstruction program than Afghanistan currently.’

The truth of it is that ‘it’s the prosperity of the nation that defense protects.’ It is not too far-fetched to surmise that the efforts of the United States in development and reconstruction efforts of other countries ultimately serve its defense efforts. The US reconstruction of Iraq is a failure. ‘Iraq is a prime example of massive waste, fraud, and abuse in reconstruction efforts. The United States spent more than $20 billion on reconstruction in Iraq with little to show for its work.’

The US has also been remiss in its funding share in the global giving scheme. ‘The United States continues to fall short of the global giving goal of .07% of GDP, and the few dollars of development aid that actually reach the ground of recipient nations actually go to U.S. companies or NGOs because [of] U.S. legal requirements.’

For its reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, ‘the military must be removed from development programs. Aid should flow directly to projects like the National Solidarity Program, run out of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.’ Aid must also be coordinated more efficiently. ‘There needs to be coordination with all parties so resources are utilized effectively, and aid is given to the neediest people.’

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Via Foreign Policy in Focus