U.S. Officials Cautiously Optimistic About Rebuilding Afghanistan
August 3, 2010
A crossroads of ancient civilizations, Afghanistan doesn't have many paved roads today let alone road maps after decades of war.
But transportation is a key goal—along with government, school, safety, industry, a justice system and other basic infrastructure of modern life—that U.S.-led forces are promoting in the Central Asian nation.
Two U.S. government officials told a Hot Topics lecture audience at Vermont Law School on Aug. 3 that progress is being made in rebuilding Afghanistan, but that it will be years before the public and private sectors have adequate capacity.
"Certainly not yet, but we're hopeful," said Lea Swanson, a foreign service officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Afghanistan.
Swanson and Amy Wilson, a commercial officer at the U.S. State Department, discussed the quest for sustainable development in Afghanistan, where the American road map is "clear, hold, build and transfer."
Swanson and Wilson said sustainable development is a global standard for public and private sector development assistance, and that achievements are quietly being made on a number of fronts as the U.S. government strengthens its partnership with Afghans and international investors.
Swanson and Wilson, who go about their jobs wearing flak jackets and traveling in armored vehicles, said most Afghans don't understand the concept of sustainable development. "Sustainable development means nothing to them" after decades of war, Swanson said. "They don't know the rule of law. They know corruption and death."
Major deposits of copper, iron, gold and industrial metals were recently discovered in Afghanistan, but U.S. officials and Western mining firms said the deposits likely won't be explored for years because of war, corruption and lack of infrastructure.
Swanson and Wilson agreed that major mineral exploitation is years away, but they said gemstone and marble mining—as well as carpet manufacturing and farming—hold immediate promise for widespread development in Afghanistan if enough capacity can be built.
Afghan carpet weavers are world renowned, but they lack the capacity to cut and wash their goods, so that work is done in Pakistan. Pakistan also cuts and polishes Afghan gemstones and marble because Afghanistan doesn't have the capacity for that work. Afghanistan also is known for its dried fruits and nuts, but lacks a modern system for planting, harvesting, processing and shipping those products.
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