More Than Half of Afghanistan's People Paid Bribes to Public Officials. We're Fighting for What There?

President Obama must be aware of the systemic corruption problem in Afghanistan. It's time to turn away from nation building in countries that don't show any hope or promise for change.

The Economist: A survey by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime found that more than half of Afghanistan’s people had to pay a bribe to a public official last year. The police topped the list of bribe recipients. Nearly 60% of those surveyed saw corruption as a bigger problem than lack of security.

A survey conducted by the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime found that half of the 7,600 Afghans interviewed had paid a bribe in the previous year (see chart), handing over on average $160 each time, about a third of average annual GDP per head. This extrapolates to about $2.5 billion worth of baksheesh nationally every year: roughly as large as Afghanistan’s opium economy, and a quarter of licit economic output.

For most Afghans, corruption outranks insecurity and unemployment as the country’s greatest challenge. Corruption corrodes Mr Karzai’s legitimacy; if he does not curb it, other problems may prove insoluble.