Summary:
Use a tiny percentage of the money currently used for Afghanistan to build a nationwide railroad and libraries along the rail line. The US is spending 3.6 billion dollars a month to have military in Afghanistan. This plan would only cost 1.5 billion dollars total and would improve the Afghan economy and education.
Plan:
My country is spending billions of tax dollars on Afghanistan and I find myself asking, what we are spending it on? Are we getting a tangible product in return? No, we are only buying temporary security for the Afghan people, which will probably disappear when US forces and interests leave.
Instead of spending multi-billion dollar amounts on troop presence in Afghanistan and hoping country sentiment will shift, I propose a much cheaper, more permanent, and more broadly beneficial plan. This plan intends to address in both the short term and long term the economic and educational problems of all the people in the country. The intention is to address the root of a problem instead of the symptom.
Problem #1: Economy
The Afghan people are poor and the economy is broken. Farmers routinely fall back to growing poppy since there are few profitable alternatives. For a country to stabilize, it needs a dependable economy where the people can earn their own keep. This gives individuals a since of accomplishment and self confidence, which needed in the people of any self-sufficient nation. By simply bumping the standard of living, a sense of prosperity is shared amongst everyone and interestingly this prosperity is something worth defending when confronted with the threat of rebellion. Right now, the Afghan people don’t have much to defend given the amount of corruption in the current leadership. So, we need to give the Afghan people something to defend; a good economy.
Problem #2: Literacy and Education
Afghanistan has a dearth of information. Only about 36% of the population is literate and the country lacks information dissemination. This is partly due to the Taliban banning all televisions and most media not long ago. Of course, the situation is better now, but it is still dismal. The people need the ability to easily obtain information about their own country and the ideas of the world to be able to intelligently solve their nation’s problems.
Solution to problem #1: Build a railroad.
Afghanistan is a landlocked country. It has roads, but no major cross-country railroad. So, it difficult to transport goods and people, especially since the roads are in such poor quality. There is currently a project to build a road over the Iranian-Afghan boarder and another to build a railroad over the Pakistani-Afghan boarder. These are good beginnings, but the country needs a rail line uniting the country. This proposed rail line can circle the nation connecting the major cities, much like the current layout of the roads of Afghanistan.
A project like this will instantly create jobs for local Afghans all across the country. It will also bring future economic benefits if Afghans can get large quantities of goods and resources from abroad cheaply. A railroad will reduce export costs and will spurn the production of local goods. Since Afghanistan is landlocked, the railroad must depend on its neighbors for success. So, it will provide an opportunity for partnerships with surrounding nations like Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. All nations in the area would be interested in a new economy.
Another benefit of the national railroad that feeds into solution #2 is the ability to utilize the railroad’s ‘right of way’. Fiber optic lines could be placed near the rail line during the construction making the majority of the nation internet ready.
Solution to problem #2: Build libraries and pay people to become literate.
Providing unobstructed, cheap access to books and the web will greatly improve the minds of the Afghans; especially the youth. So, spending money to construct modern libraries along the railroad line will be worthwhile. Also, there are hundreds of companies all across the globe that would jump at an opportunity to donate used computer equipment to Afghan libraries, especially since it can be seen as charity and good publicity.
The libraries can also serve a secondary purpose as literacy testing centers. A program can be instated, lasting only 5 years, where Afghan citizens can take a test to obtain an award for being literate. When a person passes the test, they are granted $10.00.
A benefit of the literacy program, besides increasing the horrible 36% literacy rate, is anyone applying can be registered, which will help obtain census information, provide voter registration, and fulfill other general governmental administrative objectives.
Cost:
Right now the US is spending $3.6 Billion per month on Afghanistan.
The plan outlined here should cost only $1.5 Billion total.
Railroad:
1010 miles of rail needed in Afghanistan
$250K per mile for construction (this number came from this site)
1010 x 250K = $252.5M
bump it up to 1 billion, just because estimates are never correct…
Libraries:
Say it’ll take 50K per Library.
There’s about 13 large cities in Afghanistan, so let’s build 20.
20 x 50K = $1.0M
Literacy awards:
There are 86 million people in Afghanistan and at most 50% of them might take the test in 5 years (a very high estimate).
43M x $10.00 = $430.0M
Total:
1000.0M + 1.0M + 430.0M = $1.432B
bump it up to $1.5B.
Note: You may think the 1 billion dollar railroad estimate is low given the 10 billion dollar bond passed in California for the high speed rail line. But, keep in mind the railroad I’m talking about is not high speed, it’s not on expensive California land, and it’s not built with expensive US construction workers. So, this estimate may be too conservative.
Conclusion:
Personally, I would rather have my tax money spent on real projects that have a quantitative output and will ensure a long promising future for Afghanistan. Any worthwhile prescription for good heath should be a reasonable balance of preventive care and responsive care. Sending expensive solders to Afghanistan is only responsive, doesn’t address the root cause, and will not cure chronic terrorism. Improving the economy and education of the country is true preventive care and is a genuine attempt to solve fundamental problems which have plagued the nation for centuries.