Has Afghanistan Aid ‘Failed’?

Has Afghanistan Aid ‘Failed’? – Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., National Journal.

An article in the latest issue of the Army War College’s official journal, Parameters, fires a shot across the bow of the current U.S. strategy in Afghanistan with its call for “Counterinsurgency 3.0.” Authors James Gavrilis, a retired lieutenant colonel, and Peter Charles Coharis, an international consultant, bluntly state that “massive international development assistance” to Afghanistan — over $225 billion from the U.S. alone since 9/11 — has “failed” to win hearts and minds because “policy-makers have incorrectly assumed that international development aid is inherently beneficial… and invariably leads to a grateful populace.” Instead, the article argues, “aid is inherently disruptive and potentially destabilizing, and development does not necessarily translate into pro-American or pro-Afghan government sentiments.” …

More at The National Journal.