Reply #86: There are more than 14,000 reconstruction projects under way in Afghanistan

[Turborama]

A bit out of date but unfortunately there's not a lot of info being given out about the reconstruction efforts, for some strange reason...


Reconstruction in Afghanistan

After more than three decades of conflict, the reconstruction process of Afghanistan has begun, though it continues to be hampered by continuing conflict. There are more than 14,000 reconstruction projects under way in Afghanistan, such as the Kajaki Dam.<42> Many of these projects are being supervised by the Provincial Reconstruction Teams. The World Bank contribution is the multilateral Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which was set up in May 2002. It is financed by 24 international donor countries and has spent more than $1.37 billion as of 2007.<43>

Approximately 30 billion US dollars have been provided by the international community for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, most of it from the United States. In 2002, the world community allocated $4 billion at the Tokyo conference followed by another $4 billion in 2004. In February 2006, $10.5 billion were committed for Afghanistan at the London Conference<44> and $11 billion from the United States in early 2007. One major development goal is the completion of the ring road - a series of highways linking the major cities of Afghanistan.<45><46>

India is spending $1.2 billion in health-care, food and infrastructure aid to Afghanistan, its largest foreign assistance program. In January 2009, India completed the Zaranj-Delaram highway near the Iranian border. In May 2009, an Indian-made power transmission line brought 24-hour electricity to Kabul, the capital. Besides repairing disintegrated roads and constructing highways, India is building the country's new parliament building. It is running medical missions and training Afghan police officers, diplomats and civil servants.<47>

Links to the references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war_in_Afghanistan#Reconstruction_in_Afghanistan


If only Biden's proposal prior to the invasion had been put into practice:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=596279065

When $4.5 billion was pledged by several countries in January 2002 to aid Afghanistan I got my hopes up, but as history shows us, those hopes were in vain. Timeline of the reconstruction efforts since the invasion:
http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=afghanwar_tmln&afghanwar_tmln_us_invasion__occupation=afghanwar_tmln_economic_reconstruction

Afghanistan could have ended up in a much better condition in a relatively short period of time if this redirection of forces and attention to Iraq hadn't happened instead:
http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=afghanwar_tmln&afghanwar_tmln_us_invasion__occupation=afghanwar_tmln_us_redirection_of_forces_to_iraq

ETA A lot more info on the Karjaki Dam project: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5777799#5781231

Details on how there are now 6,000,000 kids going to school now compared to less than a million during the Taliban reign: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8689609&mesg_id=8689830