U.S. Consulate Plans In Afghanistan Abandoned, Citing Security Issues

Plans to build a U.S. consulate in Afghanistan have failed in yet another attempt to unite the countries, despite their rocky past. The two countries have been attempting reconciliation, however radical forces have pushed back through firing on troops and bombings near U.S. and NATO bases.

So far, the facility has cost the U.S. government over $80 million, as they have taken a 10-year lease out on property to build the consulate.

Plans were officially scrapped following reports of an elaborate attack being planned on the facility, as well as the bombing of a mosque that took place near the consulate building site.

Plans for the site originated in 2009 by officials who were eager to open the consulate in a busy downtown district of Mazar-e Sharif, a city in the north of the Middle Eastern country.

Officials sought waivers from the State Department building rules, which would normally have prohibited the site. They also overlooked many significant security problems at the site, according to recently released documents about the project.

Some of the problems included relying on local building techniques, such as a protective wall made of straw, mud, and manure, which were vulnerable to a car bombing. Surrounding buildings also provided excellent bases for enemies to launch an attack.

Richard C. Holbrooke was the consulate’s original supporter, ans lobbied in March of 2009 to erect the consulate in the then-relatively safe city of Mazar-e Sharif in the span of 60 days. A January memo from Martin Kelly, the acting management counselor at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, stated that:

“At the time, [Holbrooke] pushed hard to identify property and stand up an interim consulate, on a very tight timeline, to signal our commitment to the Afghan people.”

Unfortunately, the plan, which would have seen the consulate open this year, was doomed from the start, as the compound was not up to U.S. diplomatic standards, which are set by the State Department’s Overseas Security Policy Board. There was a space between the outer perimeter wall, which was shared with nearby shopkeepers, and the buildings inside it that was considered a “setback” in a war zone construction setting that was unacceptable to the department.