811.42790H/61: Telegram
The Minister in Afghanistan (Engert) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 23—4:06 p.m.]
85. Minister of Public Works73 has today confirmed to me his desire to obtain with the least possible delay the engineers mentioned in my 58, March 15 [17], 10 a.m. and airgram 8, March 17, 8 p.m. He stipulates that the chief irrigation engineer should have at least 10 years’ experience.
The Minister states he is also very anxious to engage a first-class city planning engineer, a sanitary engineer, 2 road and [bridge] engineers, 2 structural engineers and 2 architects. Salaries about $4,000 per annum except for the city planning engineer who would get about $6,000.
From the Minister’s conversation it was evident that he had been instructed by the Prime Minister74 to convey to me the impression that the Afghan Government was quite willing to entrust to us most of the technical development of the country as well as the education of its youth. This implies a complete break with the past when German influence was strongest entrenched in the Ministry of Public Works due to the pronounced admiration for Germanic culture and efficiency of this same Minister. As outlined in my telegram 129, November 28, 194275 the infiltration of Germans on an ever increasing scale until 1941 had swamped Afghanistan with specialists, experts, technicians and instructors in a wide range of occupations all over the country who went out of their way to ingratiate themselves with the Afghans. This created a tendency to turn to Germany for machinery and armaments and gave the Nazis an opportunity to practice their militarized diplomacy which if unchecked would have given them the economic and political control of the Middle East.
In view of this reorientation of Afghan policy I cannot stress too strongly the necessity of selecting American personnel with the utmost care provided we are willing—as I feel we should be—to help at all. Apart from professional qualifications they must have tact, patience and adaptability in primitive surroundings. I am sure the Department could help very much by bringing to the attention of candidates also the wider aspects of the situation alluded to in my telegram 75, March 31, 9 p.m.