There was an interesting documentary on German television a couple of days ago. It centred around electricity supply in Kabul in particular and it focused on two German projects, one that is being undertaken by the company Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation and the other by the Mannheim based MVV Consulting.
What the programme revealed was that while corruption in Afghanistan is a problem it is a problem that we in the West don't only facilitate but, indeed, encourage. Quite simply the two German companies have pocketed a massive amount of money for the projects but failed to provide the service that they are supposed to provide. In short, they have failed to fulfill their end of the agreement.
Of course, it would be naive to think that these German companies are an exception when it comes to western companies in Afghanistan and what the evidence would appear to suggest is that there is a lot of western taxpayer money being pocketed by western companies and corrupt Afghani officials. In the meantime the majority of Afghanis are beginning to see only negatives from the occupation of their country.
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