Security concerns still top’s U.S. agenda in Afghanistan

KABUL, September 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Aid agencies Tuesday, September 9, expressed disappointment that just 800 million dollars of U.S. President George W. Bush's vast 87 billion dollar request to Congress for post-war Iraq and Afghanistan is earmarked for Afghan reconstruction.

"It's rather less than we were hoping for," said Paul Barker, Afghanistan country director for the U.S.-based humanitarian organization CARE International, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

United States officials said the administration would also reallocate nearly 400 million dollars from its 2003 existing budget to boost the promised Afghan aid package to 1.2 billion dollars in fiscal year 2004.

Some 11 billion dollars of the Bush budget request announced Sunday will go to the U.S. military's hunt for al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants in Afghanistan.

The sum represents the ongoing monthly bill of around 900 million dollars for the 12,500-strong U.S.-led coalition trying to stabilize the war-ravaged country, but to no avail so far.

Over the past two years, the United States has allocated 1.8 billion dollars to relief and reconstruction in Afghanistan.

While the fresh aid represented an increase in U.S. financial commitment, Barker said Washington needed to look further ahead than just a one-year package.

"Afghanistan is not a one-year contract, there is a need for multi-year help for Afghanistan, probably of around 20 billion dollars," he told AFP.

With the war-ravaged country struggling to rebuild after 23 years of conflict, the World Bank and United Nations have estimated its reconstruction needs at between 13 billion and 19 billion dollars.

Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani has put the figure at 30 billion dollars.

Bush had repeatedly vowed the United States would not desert Afghanistan after U.S.-led forces routed its former Taliban leaders nearly two years ago for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden whom the U.S. accuses of masterminding the 9/11 attacks.

Priorities of the new 1.2 billion dollar U.S. reconstruction aid injection will be a 400 million dollar handout to train and support a new Afghan national army and police force to improve security conditions inside the country, the White House said.

A further 300 million dollars will got to improve critical infrastructure, including the construction of roads, schools and health clinics.

As it seeks to discourage Afghan males from joining or remaining with local militias, 120 million dollars will be used to train and generate jobs for former fighters.

"Nearly 300 million dollars will be provided to support rule of law efforts, elections, and the Government of Afghanistan operational requirements," the White House said.

President George W. Bush last year referred to Afghanistan in the same breath as the "Marshall Plan" responsible for reconstructing post-Nazi Germany.

But some critics in Congress argued that he had not devoted sufficient funds towards Afghanistan, particularly since the start of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

U.S. officials admitted in recent months they wanted to accelerate U.S. reconstruction efforts, in a bid to ensure that Afghan people enjoy the benefits of the U.S.-backed rule of President Hamid Karzai, before elections next June.

"The administration will reallocate nearly 400 million dollars from existing accounts to accelerate progress in Afghanistan," the White House said in a fact sheet, according to AFP.

"The request will seek an additional 800 million dollars to address some of the most critical remaining security and reconstruction needs."

Some 66 billion dollars of the Bush budget request announced Sunday in a nationwide televised address will go to U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House said. Afghanistan's share of that grant will be 11 billion dollars.