Here’s a dumb idea

I recently came across a monumentally stupid program the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is implementing in Afghanistan, the Regional Afghan Municipalities Program for Urban Populations (RAMP UP). It’s a $600 million, three-year program for about 50 local governments in Afghanistan. I would call it the Fiscal Reform and Urban Development project or the FRAUD project.

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What is US policy on Afghanistan?

The Department of Defense is going to release its Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) this week, setting out the strategic priorities of the Department of Defense. Abu Muqawama has posted an advance copy of it. Below are the priorities for dealing with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

…prevailing against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and its border regions requires a comprehensive approach employing all elements of national power. Focusing resources where the population is most threatened, our military and civilian efforts align with the following primary objectives:

Reversing Taliban momentum through sustained military action by the United States, our allies, and Afghanistan’s security forces;

Denying the Taliban access to and control of key population and production centers and lines of communications;

Disrupting the Taliban outside secured areas and preventing Al Qaeda from regaining sanctuary in Afghanistan;

Degrading the Taliban to levels manageable by Afghanistan’s National Security Forces (ANSF)…

This policy seems at odds with the current situation. Here’s what the New York Times reports today:

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