Lynne O’Donnell examines how the US drawdown is affecting the country’s feeble economy:
The international military drawdown has had an immediate impact on Afghanistan’s economic growth, with a GDP of more than 14 percent in 2012 cut to a World Bank estimate of 3.6 percent last year. According to an as yet unpublished report for NATO and the U.N., the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has estimated that 11.5 million people lived within a 5-km radius of at least one military base or facility that provided economic support to the local population.
Afghanistan’s military economy has depended on local services, including: construction; food, fuel, and other supplies; logistics; security; transportation and trucking. If a jeep broke down, local mechanics fixed it. If a base needed a latrine or laundry block, local carpenters built it; locals usually cleaned it, too. One analyst said that providing security for military supply convoys alone cost around $2 billion a year. The number of military bases is down from a peak of 850 in 2012 to fewer than 100 now.
The report adds that almost 90 percent of Kabul’s 4.25 million people have directly benefited from 75 ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces facilities. The capital’s febrile atmosphere is born of the shrinkage of economic activity as small businesses collapse, the construction industry winds down, and many of the wealthy prepare to leave the country.
The Dish 