Afghans caught between terror and graft

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-02-120913.html

Afghans caught between terror and graft
Sep 12, '13
By Giuliano Battiston

HERAT, Afghanistan - The threat to the stability of the Hamid Karzai government in Afghanistan arises not so much from outside as from within. And the one thing that is eating into its edifice is the malaise called corruption.

"Corruption is undermining what little legitimacy the government has left," Qader Rahimi, head of the western branch of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, tells IPS. "The people do not trust the government. They do not believe that it works for the good of all."

The international community, he says, has so far concentrated its fight against al-Qaeda and terrorism. But it's time it turned its focus on corruption, "our biggest enemy", he adds.

The available statistics do little to counter his pessimism. According to a joint survey conducted by the Afghan High Office of Oversight and Anti-corruption (HOOAC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), half of Afghan citizens paid a bribe in 2012 while requesting a public service.