Thousands of men have been put to work cleaning irrigation canals, while farmers have received new tractors and heavily-discounted seeds and fertilizer to grow crops. Officials contend the counterinsurgency effort is working, pointing to the fact that many areas of Nawa have not had any attacks in the last six months. Next door in Marja province, Taliban assaults continue to happen on a daily basis.

 

Although the strategy is producing immediate results, some foreign aid experts worry about what will happen in the long run. “We’ve blasted Nawa with a phenomenal amount of money in the name of counterinsurgency without fully thinking through the second- and third-order effects,” Ian Purves, a British development expert who has worked in Nawa as a NATO adviser, told The Washington Post.

 

The infusion of money is “sparking new tension and rivalries within the community, and it is prompting concern that the nearly free seeds and gushing canals will result in more crops than farmers will be able to sell,” according to the newspaper. “It is also raising public expectations for handouts that the Afghan government will not be able to sustain once U.S. contributions ebb.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

In Afghan Region, U.S. Spreads the Cash to Fight the Taliban (by Rajiv Chandrasekaran,

Washington Post)