Jobs for Afghans Mission Statement

Letter from American Bodybuilders to Congress on Afghanistan
(highlight whole page, copy-and-paste into email form)

Dear Congressman/Senator,

We the bodybuilders of America would like you to support our bodybuilder brothers in Afghanistan with jobs, and with help for fitness programs which keep Afghan youth away from drugs. Bodybuilding is the fastest growing sport in Afghanistan. These are poor people who are tired of war, and the ordinary Afghan is not our enemy. We want you to bring friendship and peace to Afghans, not more war. As General Petraeus, General Karl Eikenberry, Vice President Joe Biden, and even Time Magazine have all tried to tell you, 70 percent of the Taliban are men who fight only because the Taliban pays and they need the money to feed their families, since there are no other jobs. Give them jobs, and they will stop fighting.

General Eikenberry is the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. General Petraeus said that 'those who are simply fighting to support their families should be given an economic alternative.'

We demand that Congress earmark an amount equal to 5% the amount appropriated for military operations in Afghanistan to fund a cash-for-work job program for Afghans, administered by USAID, to be distributed to qualifying proposals for projects submitted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Afghan government departments, and NATO military units. We call this The Five Percent Solution. Jobs for Afghans believes this is critical to reducing the insurgency.

These jobs would pay a wage of $5-$10 per day depending on the region. Grantees would submit to USAID reporting requirements and on-site inspections which include headcount of workers hired and field interviews with workers. These jobs shall be for the purpose of helping the poorest of Afghans, by funding labor-intensive projects which hire large numbers of unskilled workers. The needs of Afghan society are great, and a great number of projects require only hand tools and work gloves. Among these are:

Most of Afghanistan's rural, traditional water systems consist of canals and irrigation waterways, many of which lie unused, in disrepair, or strewn with rubble. Community projects which involve clearing these waterways have already been undertaken in some provinces under the cash-for-work arrangement, with great success.

The vast majority of Afghan roads are unpaved dirt roads in terrible condition, with crater-sized potholes being common. Great improvements could be made with just hand tools and gravel, which communities cannot afford. These projects can employ large numbers of unskilled workers for years.

The future water and electricity infrastructure of Afghanistan will require miles of ditches to be dug, which can be done using labor-intensive methods appropriate to the goal of large-scale hiring.

Other projects with the potential to hire large numbers of unskilled laborers.

Cash-for-work, labor-paid-for-by-the-day projects are less prone to corruption than other types of contracts, since little equipment is required beyond hand tools, and cash flows are easy to monitor. Head-counts can be done at worksites to insure money is being spent properly.

An amount equal to 5 percent of the appropriation for military operations in Afghanistan going toward cash-for-work job programs will pay vast dividends in reducing the Taliban insurgency. Most, up to 70%, of Taliban fighters are simply young men who are drawn by the wage of roughly $8 per day, with no other way to feed their families. Unemployment is 40%-50%. Afghans still support the American occupation, but are weary of economic misery. Eight full years after liberation from the unpopular and oppressive Taliban, the average Afghan has remained in desperate poverty, with malnourishment widespread across the country, one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, and a high incidence of death by easily preventable disease.

Cash-for-work projects are nothing new as a development tool, and have been implemented with some success in Iraq. However, Iraq is a fundamentally different situation from Afghanistan. In Iraq a resentful and hostile population divided by religion makes any occupation counterproductive. In contrast, the vast majority of Afghans welcomed the overthrow of the Taliban, and were full of hope. Success is still a possibility.

The Jobs for Afghans initiative will result in small-capital formation and help start small businesses and spur economic growth. Jobs for Afghans is committed to the goals of allowing American military forces to withdraw as soon as possible, bringing the troops home to their families, and establishing the basis for enduring peace and friendship between the Afghan and the American peoples.

The Marshall Plan after World War II showed that economic strategy is as important as military strategy in securing peace and prosperity after conflict. The benefits of peace over the narrow logic of war are on display in the long period of expansion and prosperity following the Marshall Plan in Europe. The Afghan people have for 30 years been invaded, occupied, and treated as pawns by the international community. The time has come to reach out and to offer what has never been offered before: help which allows Afghans to help themselves and to build their own country, with dignity and pride, through the sweat of their own brows. The world will be rewarded with stabillity, prosperity, and a new start in relations with Muslim nations, so that humanity may face the pressing challenges of the new Millenia as one.

Please contact the following senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and prevail on them to fund the Jobs for Afghans program, "The Five Percent Solution." Please contact me with the results of your work, specifically, reporting which of these senators is on-board and who is not, so our community can focus on specific senators. Thank you.

Signed,
(Your name)
In Support of Jobs for Afghans
http://jobsforafghans.org

Senate Appropriations Committee:

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D- HI)
202-224-3934

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D- WV)
202-224-3954

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D- VT)
202-224-4242

Sen. Tom Harkin (D- IA)
202-224-3254

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D- MD)
202-224-4654

Sen. Herb Kohl (D- WI)
202-224-5653

Sen. Patty Murray (D- WA)
202-224-2621

Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D- ND)
202-224-2551

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D- CA)
202-224-3841

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D- IL)
202-224-2152

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R- KY)
202-224-2541

Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R- AL)
202-224-5744

Sen. Judd Gregg (R- NH)
202-224-3324

Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R- UT)
202-224-5444

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R- TX)
202-224-5922

Sen. Tim Johnson (D- SD)
202-224-5842

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D- LA)
202-224-5824

Sen. Jack Reed (D- RI)
202-224-4642

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D- NJ)
202-224-3224

Sen. Ben Nelson (D- NE)
202-224-6551

Sen. Mark Pryor (D- AR)
202-224-2353

Sen. Jon Tester (D- MT)
202-224-2644

Sen. Thad Cochran (R- MS)
202-224-5054

Sen. Arlen Specter (R- PA)
202-224-4254

Sen. Kit Bond (R- MO)
202-224-5721

Sen. Sam Brownback (R- KS)
202-224-6521

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R- TN)
202-224-4944

Sen. Susan Collins (R- ME)
202-224-2523

Sen. George Voinovich (R- OH)
202-224-3353

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R- AK)
202-224-6665

Links:
General Petraeus speech:
http://www.defenselink.mil//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54107

Vice President Joe Biden remarks:
http://www.geo.tv/3-10-2009/36980.htm

Jobs for Afghans:
http://jobsforafghans.org