U.S.: Poorly paid Afghan cops get bribes

[deadparrot]

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's police, who are often paid less than the Taliban militants they are fighting, frequently force those in custody to buy their freedom, a "bribe and release" arrangement undermining the government's legitimacy, a new U.S. report finds.

Police, who earn about $70 a month, routinely are paid less, because senior officers skim from subordinates' salaries, the joint report by the inspector generals of the State and Defense departments found.

The report calls the U.S.-funded program to train and equip the Afghan police "generally well conceived and well executed" but concludes that the police force's readiness to carry out law enforcement duties is "far from adequate."

Among obstacles facing the $1.1 billion training program: illiterate police recruits, a history of low pay and pervasive corruption, and inadequate accountability for equipment after it is turned over to the Afghans, the report said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061204/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan_police

[Amonester]

1. Lemme guess... Helliburton's CEO & bored member$ get...

1 billion something, and the rest goes to?

[Hekate]

2. And in other news, Afghan farmers with no other source of income grow opium

DUH! and :argh:

Hekate

[SoCalDem]

3. Straight from the "Duh" file, no doubt.

Poorly paid people are more vulnerable to "other" means of income.. cue Gomer Pyle :)

[saigon68]

4. The best police BRIBES CAN BUY

LOL

</SARCASM>

[Zorro]

5. A historical perspective

Poor pay to government employees is a source of institutional corruption.

When Spain took over the Americas, the kings granted control over these territories to a bureaucracy empowered to administer and enforce laws, but did not provide a method to pay for this administration. One consequence of not providing a method of paying for "unfunded mandates" is that government agents became susceptible to bribes to influence their decisions.

It's what has led to the endemic political corruption in virtually all of Latin America. They have a word for it: "mordida", or little bite, that "tip" to the local policeman to encourage him to pay attention to one's concerns.