Afghanistan Needs Continued American Commitment, Says Official

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke told the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday that if the United States is going have a successful run in Afghanistan, its commitment and investment must continue unwavered. 

Holbrooke said strengthening the Afghan government and weeding out corruption is critical if President Obama’s war strategy is to succeed. 

“The steps we’ve taken so far to fight corruption is a start,” said Holbrooke, citing the multiple recent arrests of corrupt Afghan officials. Despite the progress, Holbrooke acknowledges that there was still a lot of work to do in erasing corruption within the Afghan government.

One of the keys to a stronger Afghan government, Holbrooke said, is an effective transfer of control from US and NATO forces to locals. He said that, without a commitment to a smooth transfer, “the process will not move forward.”

Holbrooke stressed that persistent investment in the Afghan military and police forces and the economic development of the country is vital. Accomplishing these goals will require “continued American commitment,” and patience even after American troops have left the country.

Holbrooke’s testimony comes in wake of wavering Democratic support for the war in Afghanistan, including a vote for an additional $37 billion in war spending that 106 House Democrats voted against.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), one of the opposing Democrats, questioned the validity of the United States’ mission in Afghanistan. Moran recounted his recent visit to Afghanistan where he was told that from the perspective of some Afghan tribal leaders, the United States “didn’t liberate Marja, the Taliban liberated it from a corrupt police chief who was preying on his own people.”

Corruption Watchdog Worried By Haitian Reconstruction Plan

As world governments prepare for the March 31st United Nations donor conference on Haitian reconstruction efforts, Transparency International is voicing concern about several aspects of the tentative recovery plan.

Late last week, the Haitian government released the “Action Plan for National Recovery and Development”, the end result of its consultations with local and international experts, and the document that will be the basis for its appeal to donor countries.

In an interview with Talk Radio News from Haiti, Transparency International’s Senior Consultant Roslyn Hees said the organization is concerned about several parts of the plan.

“There is no mention of any structure or process to monitor this aid whatsoever. There is a mention that there would be a financial audit, but we were hoping for something that was much more of an implementation monitoring and there is no mention of that in the document at this time.”

Hees is to meet with Edmond Mullet,the UN’s top official in Haiti, on Thursday to discuss Transparency International’s own proposal for a multi-stakeholders aid monitoring group consisting of the Haitian government and civil society as well as the UN and major donor countries.

Last week, Haitian President René Preval attempted to downplay and dismiss the most recent State Department report alleging corruption is present at every level of Haitian government.

“I am surprised he (President Preval) does not understand that this is very difficult situation and Haiti is not exempt from corruption. We are not blaming anyone, it exists everywhere. But the most important thing is to recognize that corruption exists and to pro-actively work to reduce corruption risk.”

The action plan also creates an Interim Commission for Haitian Reconstruction—a 20-member board with the final say in the review and approval of all projects—but Hees has issues with the proposed make-up of the board.

“It is a bit strange that a majority of the commission would be made up of international agencies and a minority would be made up of Haitian representatives. Even within the Haitian representation, there is no one from civil society, except a representative of Haitian unions, who cover a minuscule proportion of the Haitian workforce since most of the workforce is informal and not unionized. ” said Hees.

During his visit to Port-au-Prince earlier this week, President Clinton emphasized the importance of coordination between NGO’s and the Haitian government.

However Hees says the Haitian government hastily asked about 100 members of different civil society organizations to look at the plan during a March 19th meeting, where they received the 35-page document as they walked in the door.

“NGO’s felt they did not have time to do a proper analysis of the document and make comments. This was very much a pro forma consultation and many of them have put out press releases complaining about the process.”

Venezuelan Lawyer Says Chavez Has Compromised Judicial System

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

Human Rights Attorney Gonzalo Himiob Santome exposed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s judicial corruption at a press conference at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

“Several cases... have proved that the judicial system in Venezuela has been deteriorating in order to be used as a weapon for persecution and intimidation of the opposition and the political dissidents,” Himiob said.

Himiob was in Washington D.C to introduce a book he and attorneys Robert Amsterdam and Antonio Rosich wrote that documents the case of Eligio Cedeno, a victim of repeated human rights violations by the Venezuelan government.

According to Himiob, “In common crime, from 306, 000 cases reviewed by the general attorney’s office on 2008, only 8000 cases were submitted to formal accusation. That led us to a conclusion that there is a 97% impunity rate of common crimes.” Himiob added that “If the judicial system is not working for persecuting the criminals, what are they doing?”

“In this case, it's very clear that it doesn't matter that they are guilty or not. The thing is [they] use the procedures themselves as a punishment... no matter if [the accused] are innocent or not. They are showing that they can submit you to a trial and they can hold you in prison without any respect to the regulations, internal and international regulations. just because they want to make you feel their power over you,” Himiob added.

The Senate Rebuilds Pakistan

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

In the next 5 years, the Pakistani infrastructure will be fortified by almost $10 billion American dollars, if Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) have anything to say about it. The aptly titled Kerry-Lugar Bill will provided money for rebuilding the lives of civilians in war torn Pakistan.

Both Kerry and Lugar said that most of the money that has been funneled into Pakistan in the past few years has gone towards security. The aim of this bill is to shift the balance, to place more of an emphasis on infrastructure.

The Senators want to use the money for building schools, improving health care, building bridges, water projects, and other elements of infrastructure. Kerry said that the target projects are “things that would improve life and give people a sense of progress” to civilians.

The money would also be used for ensuring an independent media, expanding human rights and the rule of law, expanding transparency in government, rooting out political corruption and countering the drug trade.

Additionally military funding would be conditioned upon several things, including Pakistani security forces preventing al Qaeda and Taliban forces from operating in Pakistan. The military forces would not be able to interfere in politics or in the judicial process, according to the provisions of the bill.

The legislation bill would give $1.5 billion each year from FY 2009-2013, and would recommend similar amounts of money over the subsequent five years. There would be required benchmarks to measuring how effective the funding is, and the President will have to submit semi-annual reports to Congress about progress made.

Time to CLEAR Out Corruption

Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

Super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff has become the embodiment for all that is wrong and corrupt with American politics, and while what he did was illegal, another type of legal corruption has pervaded American politics--receiving campaign contributions from a company and then giving them preferential “earmark” legislation.

In an effort to stem any conflict of interest, Representatives Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) and Tom Perriello (D-VA) unveiled the Clean Law for Earmark Accountability Reform Act, CLEAR Act. This act would make it illegal for lawmakers to accept campaign contributions from companies and their top executives who have requested any earmarks.

“As lawmakers we are stewards of the public trust,” said Hodes “and we are in a period of time when it is important to rebuild the public’s trust in the government.” He continued on to say, “This law will help lawmakers avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

The CLEAR Act would mark a major reform in curbing earmark reform, as it will eliminate all possible ethical and legal dilemmas. Additionally, the Representatives hoped that this act would help to reinvigorate Americans confidence in their elected officials.

“We have tried very hard to break the link between lobbyists and a link between legislators,” said Giffords, as representatives can no longer take gifts, food, or ride in lobbyists private jets.