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Five Afghan soldiers are killed in bombing by NATO helicopter


by Joshua Partlow


kabul — Afghan soldiers lying in wait for insurgents in eastern Afghanistan were bombed by a NATO helicopter Wednesday in a deadly miscommunication that outraged the Afghan military. Five of the soldiers, on an am- bush operation before dawn in the Andar district of Ghazni prov- ince, were killed in the errant air- strike, and two were wounded. The “friendly fire” killings touched a raw nerve in the Af- ghan Defense Ministry, which has had to deal with similar in- cidents in the past. “Unfortunately, this is not the


first time this has happened, but we hope this would be the last one,” said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman. Also Wednesday, Britain’s de- fense secretary announced that British troops would leave some of Afghanistan’s most violent ground this year, handing over


the Sangin region of Helmand province to the U.S. Marines. British troops have faced treach- erous conditions there: About 100 British soldiers have died in the area, nearly a third of all Brit- ish fatalities during the war. The withdrawal would reorga- nize forces in Helmand and con- solidate the British presence in the center of the province, one of the most crucial for the NATO coalition. The first wave of Presi- dent Obama’s 30,000 additional troops deployed to Helmand, where progress has been slower than expected in insurgent strongholds such as Marja. In London, British Defense Secre- tary Liam Fox told Parliament: “The result will be a coherent and equitable division of the main populated areas of Helmand.” The British government ap- proved a temporary boost in forces, sending 300 troops to Af- ghanistan, which puts the British total near 10,000. Britain has the second-highest number of troops in Afghanistan, after the United


States. The friendly-fire killings were


the first of their kind since Gen. David H. Petraeus took command of NATO coalition forces in Af- ghanistan this week. Such inad- vertent deaths, primarily of Af- ghan civilians, were a regular thorn for Petraeus’s predecessor, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who restricted the use of airpower. Such mistakes complicate


what has long been central to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan: building up the Afghan forces so that they can eventually take over security duties. A NATO spokes- man apologized on Petraeus’s be- half Wednesday to the families of the slain soldiers. “This loss of life is tragic,” Navy


Capt. Jane Campbell said in a statement. “We work extremely hard to coordinate and synchro- nize our operations, and we deep- ly regret the loss of lives from our Afghan partners.” NATO spokesman Josef Blotz


said at a news conference in Ka- bul that the reason for the mis-


Royals share in Britain’s cutbacks britain from A1


paired. Plans to remove asbestos and replace Victorian-era lead water pipes at the palace will be put off, possibly for years, as will the refurbishment of Queen Vic- toria’s dilapidated mausoleum at Windsor Castle, the royal family’s weekend retreat. After a fit of public outrage at the cost of providing security to minor royals, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, the queen’s grand- daughters, are also set to lose their 24-hour bodyguards, which have reportedly cost taxpayers here upwards of $700,000 a year. As a result of steps already tak- en, the cost of the monarchy to British taxpayers fell by roughly $4 million over the past year, the palace proudly disclosed this week. Overall, the queen spent about $56 million in government funds in 2009-2010 — or 94 cents per British citizen — down from about $61 million a year earlier. That figure, however, does not in- clude the massive and jealously guarded cost of providing securi- ty to the major royals, including the 84-year-old queen and her 89-year-old husband, Prince Phil- ip, the Duke of Edinburgh. “The royal household is acute-


ly aware of the difficult economic climate and took early action to reduce its expenditures in 2009,” Sir Alan Reid, keeper of the Privy Purse — the queen’s top accoun- tant — said in a statement this week. He himself agreed to a $20,000 pay cut, to $264,000 a year. “We are implementing a head-count freeze and reviewing every vacancy to see if we can avoid replacement.” To be sure, the queen still lives


like a queen. This year, the palace is budgeting $1.18 million, an in- crease of $150,000 over last year, just for its summer garden par- ties (a series of extremely popular events attended by thousands of people). Though cutting back on travel will save a pretty penny, when the queen does hit the road, it is in rarefied style. Her four-day royal visit to Bermuda last November with Prince Phil- ip, for instance, set British tax- payers back no less than $550,000. Fortunately for Britain, the


taken airstrike was “perhaps a co- ordination issue,” the Associated Press reported. “We were obvi- ously not absolutely clear wheth- er there were Afghan national se- curity forces in the area.” Military officials said there was


a NATO assessment team in Ghazni that was investigating the incident. “We don’t know a lot of the circumstances behind this,” said Col. Wayne Shanks, a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul. Insurgents killed three NATO


THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2010


BAY ISMOYO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES A British soldier talks to children in Helmand. The British will leave the province’s Sangin area this year.


troops in a bombing in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, military officials said.


partlowj@washpost.com


Special correspondent Javed Hamdard contributed to this report.


Afghans view police, judiciary as corrupt About 28 percent of


households in survey reported paying bribe


by Ernesto Londoño REBECCA NADEN/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Critics say Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, arriving by carriage at the Royal Ascot races last month, still spend too much money.


cost of those trips has sometimes been borne by the citizens of its former colonies. The queen’s trip to New York on Wednesday to ad- dress the United Nations for the first time since 1957 was under- written by Canada, where she is still the official head of state. Yet the queen, some royal


watchers insist, is holding fast to the legacy of her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who abided by the same food and electricity rations that their sub- jects faced during World War II. Though she remains one of the wealthiest women in the world by the grace of inherited estates, masterpieces of art and magnif- icent jewels, the queen is also fa- mously frugal.


“She is said to wander the halls of Buckingham Palace at night, turning off lights,” said Robert Lacey, the well-known royal biog- rapher. “Yes, she is a person of enormous wealth, but she does not waste money or spend it loosely.” Though the vast majority of Britons still strongly support the monarchy, a poll released in June showed 87 percent favored a freeze on public funds provided to the royal family. Some cuts have already come down the pike, with the government slash- ing next year’s allocation to a maintenance fund for royal es- tates by $750,000. Nevertheless, some critics have been intensifying their opposi-


tion, arguing that the monarchy is a luxury Britain can no longer afford at a time when the nation- al budget is so strained that schools cannot be repaired and basic services are being cut. That is particularly true, they say, be- cause government spending on the monarchy will actually be temporarily ramped up in 2012 to cover the cost of celebrating the queen’s Diamond Jubilee, her 60th year on the throne. The queen, critics say, might also be trying to build goodwill with the new coalition govern- ment as it conducts a major re- view over the next 12 months of how the royal family receives public money. Additionally, al- though the monarchy did take less money from the British Trea- sury last year, skeptics note that at the same time, the queen’s household dipped into a reserve fund of previously unused tax- payer money earmarked for the royals to cover other expenses. “She’s not saving any money because it’s not her money to be begin with — it’s the money of the British taxpayers,” said Graham Smith, campaign manager of Re- public, an anti-monarchy group. “This is the most expensive mon- archy in Europe, and the truth is, we just can’t afford it anymore.” faiolaa@washpost.com


Special correspondent Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi contributed to this report.


kabul — Corruption has soared in recent years as the United States and other interna- tional donors have poured hun- dreds of millions of dollars into Afghanistan, giving the Taliban a powerful tool to delegitimize the Afghan government, according to a new national survey. The survey, which was sched- uled to be released Thursday by the Kabul-based anti-corruption group Integrity Watch Afghani- stan, suggests that Afghans see their country’s police and judi- cial officials as the most corrupt in the government — a troubling finding at a time when the U.S. mission here relies heavily on bolstering the credibility and professionalism of Afghan secu- rity forces. It also shows that corruption disproportionately affects poor Afghans and that it is more en- trenched in rural areas, where NATO forces are trying to weak- en the Taliban and institute gov- ernment control. The authors say the survey provides the most comprehen- sive look to date at the scope and dynamics of petty corruption in Afghanistan, drawing from inter- views with about 6,500 people conducted late last year in all but two of Afghanistan’s 34 provinc- es.


American lawmakers and U.S. commanders have grown in- creasingly concerned about Af- ghanistan’s endemic corruption, which they see as a growing threat to international military and aid efforts at a time when support for the war is waning in the United States and NATO cap- itals. “It has become a phenomenon


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that is more widespread and really institutionalized,” said Lo- renzo Delesgues, co-director of Integrity Watch Afghanistan. “It has become easier for people to get away with corruption, and you have more money flowing in.”


The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police forces; the Justice Ministry; and the Nation- al Directorate of Security, Af- ghanistan’s main intelligence agency, are seen as the most cor- rupt government departments, according to the survey.


Roughly 28 percent of house- holds surveyed reported having paid a bribe last year. Of those, about 78 percent are in rural areas. Last year, Afghans paid rough- ly $1 billion in bribes, nearly twice the amount paid in 2007, according to estimates based on the survey. The sum is equal to nearly a third of the country’s an- nual budget. The most common types of bribes were paid for favorable disposition of court cases and for police protection, the study said. The average bribe paid to influ- ence a judicial official was $135, while the average bribe paid to a police officer was $123.


Bribes were also commonly


Survey on corruption in Afghanistan Q:


41%42% Urban 17% 20% Rural 18% 11% 4% 5% Insecurity Q: Q:


Unemploy- ment


Corruption


Illegal drugs


7% 4%


Presence of armed groups


65% Which sector has the most corruption? 72% Public Q:


YES 23%


3% 4% Access


to education


Have you personally experienced corruption over the last 12 months? NO


12%


Refused to answer


Unemployment Corruption


Biggest problem in Afghanistan, according to place of residence?


TOP THREE, OVERALL Insecurity


13%


41% 19%


6% Private


5% Aid community


2%


Political parties


2%


Foreign military


1% Media


What three public institutions do you consider the most corrupt? TOP


Interior Ministry Justice Ministry


Dir. of National Security Municipalities THREE TIED*


BOTTOM Parliament


Commerce Ministry President’s office


State-run enterprises Banks


Q:


7% 7%


6% 5%


3%


Is corruption within the state helping the expansion of the Taliban? YES 50%


NO


Absolutely 36%


A little Absolutely 14%


9%


Don’t know 41%


SOURCE: National survey of 6,498 randomly selected Afghan citizens, 18 or older, in 32 of 34 Afghan provinces between Nov. 15 and Dec. 15. Poll of in-person interviews conducted by Intergrity Watch Afghanistan. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus one percentage point.


THE WASHINGTON POST


paid for routine government ser- vices, such as electricity, the issu- ance of passports and national identification forms, and access to education. “Just to get a signature from a


low-ranking official in this coun- try you need to pay a bribe,” said Afghan lawmaker Sayed Rah- man, who is critical of the gov- ernment’s efforts to fight corrup- tion.


Recent military offensives in


Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan have been hindered by lukewarm public support for corrupt local officials. On a recent patrol in Kanda-


har city, where NATO officials are attempting to boost the gov- ernment as part of a military campaign, a village elder told a Canadian soldier that he was happy to work with coalition troops but that he had no faith in his government. “When we have them bring an


electrician from the municipal government, we have to pay him” a bribe, Karim Mohammed said. “The people who have power and authority, they can do every- thing. For us poor people, there’s nothing.” The Taliban has seized on that


frustration, highlighting in its propaganda the prevalence of


corruption. About 50 percent of respondents in the survey said corruption was helping the Tali- ban expand its influence. “The Taliban [has] been able to gain some credibility,” Delesgues said. During its years in power in the 1990s, the Taliban provided few basic services but discour- aged dishonesty with a swift and often-brutal justice system. “There was more accountability,” he said. “They were ruling by fear.” U.S. lawmakers have become increasingly concerned about corruption in Afghanistan. Last month, congressional in-


vestigators issued a report sug- gesting that a U.S. military con- voy protection contract was en- riching corrupt officials and insurgents. Days later, Rep. Nita M. Lowey


(D-N.Y.), announced that she would block funding for nones- sential projects until the govern- ment demonstrates that taxpayer money won’t be siphoned. Afghan President Hamid Kar- zai created an office to coordi- nate anti-corruption efforts last year. Critics say the initiative has had little impact because it has a small budget and very little reach outside Kabul.


londonoe@washpost.com 20% 18%


*Courts, Finance Ministry and Ministry of Water and Electricity


42% 32% 30%


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