Transcript: NPR's Interview With Afghan President Ashraf Ghani - Renee Montagn

Aghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani is in Washington, D.C., this week for his first official visit. He will go to Capitol Hill and to the White House, where he's expected to push to slow down the drawdown of American troops so that more of them will stay longer in Afghanistan.

RM: You came into office pledging to fight corruption. This was a top priority. Corruption is something that has become endemic to Afghanistan over these past years. What, though, is the damage? Who or what is hurt when corruption reaches this level?
AG: First, the poor are hurt. Thirty-six percent of the Afghan population lives below poverty. Second, women are hurt. We have, unfortunately, thanks to 36 years of conflict, a lot of female-headed households. Three, the youth are hurt. Our majority are youth, under 30. They have no hope. They don't get jobs. To sum up, the country hurts. The good news is that it can be overcome. The bad news is that it requires enormous amount of effort, and determination and focus. And there'll be a lot of resistance to it.

RM: Could you give us an example of one specific project or ministry you're dealing with?
AG: Absolutely — the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Defense. There were allegations that there was a difference in fuel contract for three years, which was roughly estimated at one billion [dollars]. And that the difference between the contract that was accepted and the other bids were $211 million. I cancelled it. I rebid the entire process and I suspended all the officials who were engaged in it. So there is a full investigation of everyone underway. We are going to save the Afghan treasury and the American public, who are underwriting the bill, hopefully tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. And in the process, now we've changed the procurement system, the way we purchase goods. It is reviewed by a committee with impeccable credential for honesty and I personally review the ultimate contracts with a core group of officials under my own chairmanship.

RM: Although critics have taken to suggesting that maybe you're taking too much power to yourself. I think I've heard the word "dictator" uttered on this score. Do you have to, as the president of Afghanistan, actually oversee the contracts yourself?
AG: For the large contracts, yes. And I'm not doing it. I'm chairing a commission.  
AG: It's a presidential commission.
AG: No, the ministers are members of it. But the due process needs to be observed because that's the seal of integrity. President Truman made his name by looking into contracting. And that's how integrity within the military procurement started in the United States.

RM: Let me interject something you would know better than anybody. No economy can fully function when large swaths of the country are conflict zones, when a simple delivery truck can't go into a province next door to the capital, Kabul. Now you're going to be meeting with President Obama this week to work on troop levels and timetables. But let me just ask you a larger question. I think it's fair to say average Americans think that the average Afghan doesn't want American troops in their country. How true is that?
AG: It's not true. Former President Karzai held a consultative assembly, September of 2013. He brought representatives from all over the country and he asked them whether they approved of the bilateral security agreement. They overwhelmingly said yes.

RM: And why do Afghans want troops in their country?
AG: Because, because they see the United States as critical to their future. You cannot imagine what life was like in December of 2001.  Read More at NPR
(Click here to read a transcript of the interview).

Ashraf Ghani: U.S. Critical To Afghanistan's Future