It is interesting to note that it is not only the silly people who indulge in silly talks. Often the people at the highest level indulge in such talks. Most of the time, of course, they do not know why what they are saying is silly. It is so because they are often wholly disassociated.

Take for instance US President George W Bush who, speaking at the Virginia Military Institute in mid-April, likened the current American rebuilding efforts to the historic Marshall Plan that helped the post-war Western Europe to get back on its feet. Although, Bush was guilty of silly talk this time around, he is not the only one who has indulged in such silly talks.

We heard about the Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe, and then for Bosnia, and then for Kosovo and it goes on and on. In fact, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is especially fond of Marshall Plans. Their version of silly talks calls for implementing the Marshall Plan for the Arab world.

The silliness of Bush's talk lies in the fact that there exists no physical resemblance between the post-war Germany, to which a good part of the Marshall Plan efforts were directed at, and Afghanistan in the post-Taliban days.

To begin with, let us look at certain facts. It is important to look at these to understand why the Marshall Plan succeeded, and became the subject of much pride of the Americans.

Germany and Afghanistan

Germany, it must be remembered, was a mighty power under a wrong leader. Technologically it was equal to a few and superior to others. It had its autobahn, it had its Rhine river transportation, it had its railroad transport facilities, and above all, it had the Germans, who were technologically on par with the best that existed around the world.

In addition, most of Germany is flat terrain. It experiences more rain than most Germans would like. Germany's agricultural fields were producing food aplenty and it never had agricultural fields which only grew poppies.

Moreover, it did not have a gun culture, which created warlords all over Afghanistan. In other words, pre-war Germany had all the technological and infrastructure capabilities associated with a developed nation, whereas Afghanistan circa 1979 did not.

Whereas Germany was a manufacturing giant and seat of technological innovation, Afghanistan was a trading nation, sitting on the crossroads of some major international trading routes.

Now, let us take a closer look at Afghanistan. Unlike Western Europe, Afghanistan's majority population were illiterate. Modern education had seeped in, but it remained confined to a few. In Europe, it was different. Education was for everyone.

Afghanistan is an extremely mountainous region where railroads do not exist. Unlike the German autobahns, the roads in Afghanistan are winding and narrow and inadequate even for the few motorised vehicles that ply in the country.

The country gets very little rain and depends heavily on snowmelts and occasional cloudbursts. It has little water, and almost no water transportation. It has agricultural fields that grow poppy.

The only manufacturing that exists is the illegal manufacture of pipe guns and copies of AK-47s or similar guns. It is, of course, not the fault of the Afghans that they remained so different from what the Europeans were in the pre-war days.

It is also not necessary for the Afghans to become like Europeans. It is up to them what they want to be. It is also not their fault that some silly people compare their country to post-war Western Europe.

Bush's speech is silly from another angle. If you remember, George Marshall, in his speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, had declared that it was in America's vital interest to rebuild Europe after World War II. "Our policy," the former general said, "is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos."

The plan envisaged a transfer of US$13 billion to Europe from 1947 to 1951. Now, US$13 billion over five years is equivalent to about US$2.5 billion per year. It should also be remembered that US$1 billion those days could buy more than US$5 billion today would.

Bush gloated about the US plan to help Afghanistan with US$300 million per year. He was generous, no doubt, but nowhere near what is required even to resemble anything like the 1947-51 Marshall Plan. Meanwhile, we have seen figures that suggest that in order to meet the most essential needs of Afghanistan immediately  it is not a Marshall Plan. It is a plan fit for Afghanistan.

The objective is to put Afghanistan back as an important trading nation. It is important to do that because trading is what the Afghans know well. It was important to get Europe's manufacturing capability back up again in the post-war days, because manufacturing is what the Europeans know well. — GVNN/Asia Times Online