After World War II, civil war and insurrection during the fragile post-war period in Europe was averted by large-scale work projects which employed large numbers of men and women in projects which rebuilt the war-torn infrastructure. Today Afghan society faces the same conditions. A report of the Royal United Services Institute in 2008 called hunger and starvation the greatest threat to Afghanistan. Since that year, little has changed.
This film shows that U.S. security interests would be best served by implementing a "mini-Marshall Plan" which would cost a mere 5% of the cost of military operations, be far more effective in bring stability to the country. U.S. military operations have been shown to be clearly counterproductive, only generating more hatred and fueling the insurgency, which consists largely of unemployed young men who may have little love for the Taliban, but can find no other job. With millions of dollars raised in protection payments for not attacking U.S. military supply lines, as well as funds raised from other illicit activities, the Taliban is able to pay its fighters approximately ten dollars a day, and it is often "the only job in town." The unemployment rate in Afghanistan is 50%.
The focus of an economic solution would be on giving Afghans the tools, wages, and technical assistance to rebuild the water and irrigation infrastructure with their own labor, a key to an economy which has always been based on agriculture and trade. U.S. reliance on American contractors for projects which do not meet priorities, but instead enrich foreign contractors, has led to an increase in the popularity of the Taliban.
The tragedy of the war is that, after 2001, most Afghans looked forward to work and rebuilding their country. But the NATO military presence has turned into a bloody occupation in which Afghan men disappear into secret prisons, and airborne drones fire missiles into dwellings with civilians.
Filmed in Kabul in 2008 by a pair of independent filmmakers who traveled to interview unemployed Afghan men.
Film promo image at:
http://jobsforafghans.org/afghanmarshall.png
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