Should the international community do more to help Afghanistan?

In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah has appealed for more funds from the international community to rebuild his country.

However, the UN reconstruction envoy, Nigel Fisher, has said that the World Bank trust fund for Afghanistan's interim administration has received only 45 million of the 400 million dollar budget needed to run the government.

The recent assassination of Vice-President Haji Abdul Qadir has also highlighted security concerns and fears of possible rivalries between powerful figures in the government.

And reports about a return to poppy growing by Afghan farmers are unlikely to encourage donor countries like the UK and US to come forward with more funds.

So should donor countries pay up quickly to help the Afghan government set up its own institutions?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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Your reaction

The West started this political shake-up in Afghanistan

Mark Schofield, France

Of course we should be doing more. The West started this political shake-up in Afghanistan, and it's down to the West to finish it. That means staying put over the long term to develop lasting institutions that the Afghan people can use to bring a lasting peace and stability.
Mark Schofield, France

Oil rich countries in the Middle East should do more to help their neighbour. Surely some of these countries could send in their military to assist with maintaining peace.
Louise, Sydney, Australia

It amazes me to read so many writers to this column expressing the view that Afghanistan must adopt a democratic form of government, if it is to receive aid. It is actually undemocratic to dictate such terms. The question of aid should be based on the merits, and not the politics. One is not "giving" anything, if one expects something in return, one is simply "exchanging" a product, for a demand.

I do believe the United States and others in the coalition against terrorism should make good the damage they inflicted on the country and restore the infrastructure to at least what it was prior to the bombings. I do not hold the view that donor countries should help the Afghan government set up its own institutions, unless those institutions are what they want, and not what the donor countries demand they should have. Tribal lords? So what? Half the world has been through that feudal epoch. When it's time for it to go, Afghanistan will rid itself of it, as other countries did, when it's right and ready.
Terry Jones, UK

Despite all help it will come to nothing unless there is evidence that the leadership in Afghanistan shows courage to maintain unity and think in terms of socio economic progress. However to give it a fair chance a reasonable help in the war ravaged country seems fair. It is interesting that Pakistan has received far greater aid as an ally against the war on terrorism.
Vinod Dawda, UK

Afghanistan is slowly but steadily returning to normalcy. However, the followers of Bin Laden, in Afghanistan and those hiding in Pakistan, will create instability, at the first available opportunity, unless the security measures are tightened, education system reformed, infrastructure built, outlying areas properly monitored and freedom of women assured to pursue their careers. All this will entail financial assistance from donor nations. Won't it be money well spent? The alternative will be the warlords jockeying to dethrone Karzai and his regime.
Dr. Rajinder Sehgal, Canada.

America did promise aid to Afghanistan in return for support from coalition partners, the least it can now do is to fulfil its promise

Bilal Patel, London, UK

Since America did promise aid to Afghanistan in return for support from coalition partners, the least it can now do is to fulfil its promise. Otherwise it is doing in Afghanistan exactly what it did when the Russians left. If America wants stability and democracy it's going to have to pay for it, otherwise all this talk we've had about freedom and fight against terror sounds like hollow propaganda.
Bilal Patel, London, UK

Afghanistan is starting to revert to the way it was even before the Russians moved in. Large areas are in the control of warlords. These are the real people behind the government. The question should be, is the Afghan population willing to change some of their way of life in order get to get aid?
Russ, USA

The problems in Afghanistan were the result of previous broken promises when the USA and the UK used Afghanistan as a weapon against the Russians. Of course we must support them now or the Taleban and al-Qaeda will just regroup which would destabilise the whole region. Also this way we have some chance of limiting drug production which I believe is one of the terror weapons being used against the USA and the UK.
K.Budden, England

We must honour our promises to them

Shawn, Washington DC, USA

Of course we should do everything we can to help the people of Afghanistan. We must honour our promises to them. There's nothing we can do, however, if the people reject democracy and revert to a political system based on feuding and armed tribes. Ultimately, the people of Afghanistan are responsible for their own success or failure. They have a chance to create a more free and productive society. I only hope they don't throw it away.
Shawn, Washington DC, USA

No! What these people are trying to do is effectively blackmail the western countries into supporting their corrupt puppet regime. Forget it. I'm tired of my hard-earned money going everywhere except where it would do real good. I'm really sorry Afghanistan is such a messed up place, but maybe they first need to start by blaming themselves for their lot (not the Russians, or the Taleban or anybody else), and taking concrete steps to fix their situation. Only then would I feel like some money should go their way.
Brian, USA

Fair enough, Brian, USA. Rather than permanently eliminating the root causes of terrorism (poverty, social injustice and political suppression), you must prefer, instead, your hard-earned money to be used for continious, ever-expensive, ever-disruptive security to protect people in the USA from an omnipresent threat, not to mention the economic costs of being in a state of war and the costs of deploying and using the military. Finally let's not forget the cost of civillian casualties in Afganistan. Seems much more expensive in the long run.
M. M. Zaman, UK in US

The 'international community' - that's where Europe, Japan, and the Arab states should come in. Since the vast majority of the world's rich nations pledged little and ultimately produced even less for this cause, it's time you paid up. The USA has spent tens of billions on Afghanistan already. Some of this went to the successful war effort, some to keep the peace and protect the new Afghan leader, and a fair amount to humanitarian aid programs, particularly in getting their education system going again. It's time for the other wealthy nations to finally get involved, beyond the rhetorical level.
Stephen, USA

Stephen in America, please Stephen: "Wake up and smell the coffee" as Americans often like to say. Where on earth do you get the figure that America has spent tens of billions on humanitarian aid? Maybe on the bombs that it has dropped and the devastation that is has caused but certainly not on humanitarian issues. The current puppet government in Afganistan is still crying for the $400 million that was promised. it has only reiceved 40 million of that. Not every good comes from America, Stephen, and that is something that you desperately need to acknowledge.
Khan, England

We must help to make the government strong and then ask them to fulfil our expectations

Agha Ata, USA

Afghanistan must be helped until the government is stable and has strong dependable law enforcement agencies. You can't expect much from a weak government with all those warlords around. We must help to make the government strong and then ask them to fulfil our expectations.
Agha Ata, USA

The average Afghan citizen would certainly prefer peace and tranquillity and a return to the highly civilized, cosmopolitan life that once flourished in their country. The sticking points are the warlords. The country will not be united until an answerable police, militia, or army disarms all the local strongmen. Any money poured into the country should be closely monitored for attempts to siphon off an unearned cut. I agree that promises should be kept.
Chris, USA

On the question of financial aid, I've read recently that several countries are reluctant to release the promised amount without some concrete financial accountability by the Afghan government. I suspect it would be entirely too tempting for some to walk off with a good portion of that aid for personal uses. The needs have to be clearly and concisely defined first.
Bob, NY, USA