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| Kabul–Kandahar Highway (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Saagar Enjeti
President Ashraf Ghani must convince the U.S. to do more to support the country’s failing roads.
Driving along Afghanistan’s roads is not like driving anywhere else in Asia. Traffic can stand still for hours, an engine can give out on ascent of a mountain in a remote village, and in wayward towns in Wardak Province, some drivers have found themselves engulfed in IED craters large enough to swallow an entire 18-wheeler.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Afghanistan’s roads are in astonishingly meager condition. The Washington Post recently observed that the government is unable to maintain most of the roads constructed since American troops entered the country in 2001.
That problem will be at the forefront of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s ambitious agenda when he arrives at the White House on Tuesday. Ghani hopes to secure long-term economic assistance, crucial to establishing Afghanistan as a trade hub at the heart of Central Asia. Before this vision can materialize, Afghan merchants need roads to transport their goods to market.
No place better exemplifies the problems facing Ghani’s vision than the proposed Gardez-Khost Highway, a 101-kilometer road which would effectively link Kabul, eastern Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Since it was conceived, the project has been mired in disaster.
Read the full story at The Diplomat