Security and Governance

Until recently, the link between security and good governance existed more in theory for me than in practice.  My experience in Afghanistan made the link quite vivid.

I was in Afghanistan as an election observer with Democracy International.  On election day, soldiers at a security checkpoint demanded that we get out of our vehicle so they could check it for explosives and weapons.  Clearly, we were not the Taliban.  Rather, they pulled us over so they could extract a bribe.  Since Afghan soldiers are not paid well (about $120 per month) and since they see high-ranking government officials making enormous sums of money, I don’t necessarily have a problem with paying bribes to low-ranking government officials, especially soldiers who are risking their lives.  However, what occurred at the checkpoint went far beyond the typical bribe request.  There were about 20 soldiers at the checkpoint and once word spread that westerners had been pulled over, every soldier stopped manning the checkpoint and gathered around us.  At this point, each soldier had abandoned his post and no one was paying any attention to the scores of cars driving through the checkpoint into the city.  Luckily, nothing happened.  (As far as I know.  There were bombings in Kabul on election day and it is possible that one of the bombers slipped through the checkpoint while the soldiers were engaged in their extortion.) I could deal with soldiers taking the weapons and the bribe.  The scary part was how quickly the soldiers dispensed with their duty to secure the city in order to take part in the bribery.  That corruption can be a serious cause of insecurity is now seared into my mind.