that's a great question and it's one that actually i think during the constitutional jurga, we in the international community debated almost constantly. what we fell back on to in the end is it was not our decision to make. we did have and there's no question the international community influenced the afghans in the shape and form of their government. answering from a developmental academic perspective, i don't think that a centralized government fosters corruption more than say a decentralized government would. what prevents corruption is robust institutions, and if the afghans had the capacity and the provinces and the districts for robust institutions, there would be more room for decentralization. it's my experience, my personal experience, not the agency's, that in afghanistan, that capacity's not there universally yet. it's growing and again, the schools are growing it fast, and as these provincial centers are able to absorb capacity and absorb resources, they should. if you're asking me whether or not having -- whether the afghan constitution having the president appoint and th

that assignment he was a consultant to the afghan government in support of the afghan constitutional jurga after which he was awarded a constitutional medal by president karzai. mr. sampler did his undergraduate work in physics and electrical engineering at georgia tech, has a master's degree in diplomacy from nor winorwick university and is an army veteran that served with the special forces. you're on the hot seat now. but we appreciate you being here. we appreciate a very serious and frank dialogue with you today, but you may proceed with your opening statement and we'll go from there. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll be brief and leave as much time as possible for questions. thank you for the opportunity to testify. i do represent the office of afghanistan and pakistan affairs at usaid, and i would like to begin the way i always do is by thanking the veterans, military, state department, usaid or contractors that served in the past decade in afghanistan. as you rightly noted since the time you were there and i've been there, there was a tremendous amount of sacrifice and i'd like to re

during the constitutional jurga, the international community debated constantly.ut what we felt that on to in the end was that it was not our decision to make. there's no question that the international committee includes the afghan in the shape and form of their government. answering from a developmental academic perspective, i don't think that a centralized the current fosters corruption more than a decentralized government would. what prevents corruption is robust institutions. if the afghans had the capacity and -- capacity in the provinces and distress for robust institutions, there would be more room for decentralization. it is my personal experience, not the agencies, that come in afghanistan, that capacity is not their universal yet. it is growing. the schools are growing faster and has the provincial centers are able to restore -- to a door of capacity, they should. if you're asking me whether the afghan constitution, having the president appoints and the governors appoint the system, the only comparison that i can make is that it took us 12 years to go f