Afghanistan: Power Plays

RAWA, http://www.rawa.org, has interviewed a few prostitutes in Kabul. Most of them were first raped by the communist, then by different jihadis, followed by Taliban, and now by the soldiers of different warlords who support Karzai. However, many of them agree that prostitution was some-how controlled in Taliban regime. Well, Taliban were at least better for the afghan prostitutes?

I don’t really care whoever will become president of Afghanistan, the country where there is no human right for women and girls. I would be surprise if the next Afghan’s president offers women to be involved in political and social affairs and doesn’t manipulate Islamic rule to legitimate male dominance.....Democracy in Afganisthan? Sound is funny.

Nice article. It brings about this whole issue of not having real democracy in Afghanistan after the fall of Taliban.

I don`t see how ``truly free and fair elections`` can be held in Afghanistan without a culture that emphasizes the concept of democracy. For years, the Afghan people have lived under the rule of tribal leaders and their word has been the law. How can we expect to eliminate the culture of tribal leadership so quickly? Karzai`s best bet for short term gain is to get as many tribal leaders as possible to back him up and win the ``free and fair elections.``Over the long haul he can try and create awareness for real democracy, which will be a major challenge since the Afghans have ruled for ages with their tribal leader setup.

Free and fair elections can only be held if the people of that country and the leaders of that country believe that the consequences of having a democratic system of government will be for the better. For most people in Afghanistan are not interested in the mechanics of elections, they are more interested in their wages, the daily meals and their day to day problems. If they can get half of their problems solved with tribal leaders, how can we expect them to suddenly switch to democratic values, American style? This is something that Bush probably understands but most Republicans probably don`t, which is why they are still supporting him.

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