An Afghan Woman Who Stands Up to the Warlords

[RabzonKhan]

What a brave woman! She is really a remarkable woman who has chosen to take a stand against the Northern Alliance war criminals, drug barons and corrupt politicians. I really admire her courageous stand and I wish her the best.

NATO should urge Karzai to purge its government of Northern Alliance warlords, drug barons and corrupt politicians.....I know it is wishful thinking on my part.



Is Malalai Joya the Bravest Woman in Afghanistan?
An Afghan Woman Who Stands Up to the Warlords

By FAROOQ SULEHRIA

Afghanistan lives in the fear of the US-sponsored war lords. These hated warlords are not scared by the Taliban-monster raising its head in the south. Ironically, they live in the fear of an unarmed girl in her late twenties: Malalai Joya. To silence Joya’s defiant voice, war lords dominating national parliament, suspended Joy’s membership for three years in 2007. Earlier, at almost every parliamentary session she attended, she had her hair pulled or physically attacked and called names (‘whore’). ‘They even threatened me in the parliament with rape’, she says. But she neither toned down her criticism of war lords (‘they must be tried’) nor US occupation (‘war on terror’ is a mockery). Understandably, she’s been declared the ‘bravest woman in Afghanistan’ and even compared with Aung Sun Suu Kyi.

A household name in Afghanistan (‘Most famous woman in Afghanistan’, according to BBC), Joya shot to fame back in 2003 at the Loya Jirga convened to ratify Afghanistan’s new constitution. Unlike US-sponsored clean-shaven fundamentalists, Joya was not nominated but elected by the people of Farah province to represent them. She stunned the Loya Jirga and journalists present on the occasion, when she unleashed a three-minute vitriolic speech exposing the crimes of warlords dominating that Loya Jirga. Grey-bearded Sibghatullah Mojadadi, chairing the Loya Jirga, called her an ‘infidel’ and a ‘communist’. Other beards present on the occasion also shouted at her. But before she was silenced by an angry mob of war lords around, she had electrified Afghanistan with her courageous speech.

During the course of these three fateful minutes, the course of Joya’s life was also changed. In her native province of Farah, locals wanted her to represent them in elections. It takes guns and dollars to contest an election in Afghan electoral-battlefields. Joya had none. But she could not turn down hundreds of supporters daily paying her visits, urging her to stand. She decided to run for Wolesi Jirga (lower house of national parliament). Danish film maker Eva Mulvad, immortalised Joya’s courageous election campaign and subsequent victory, in her ‘Enemies of Happiness’ .

I happened to meet Joya in January unexpectedly at a dinner when she reached Peshawar (Pakistan) on her way to Canada. Since her passport has been confiscated and she is on Exit Control List, she had travelled to Pakistan in disguise. Politely refusing my request for an interview on the plea that she got to catch a flight early next morning, she promised to catch up with me in Kabul later in March.

Three months later, we met again in Kabul. As an MP, Joya was entitled to rent a villa in a posh neighbourhood designated to MPs. However, plagued with life threats, Joya hardly visits it. Her comrades discreetly pointed to the villa when we were driving past this neighborhood on our way to an underground home Joya sometimes uses to meet visitors. In an interview, interspersed by a delicious Afghan dinner, and post-dinner chat, this brave woman shared her hopes and fears with Arbetaren. Here are the excerpts.

Have you gone to court against your suspension. Did you contact Karzai against your suspension?

Joya: Here in Afghanistan, we have a mafia running the system. It is the same war lords in the parliament who head the courts. These Northern Alliance warlords dispense justice[/B]. I was suspended because I termed Afghan parliament as a stable full of animals. Though I think animals are useful. The warlords want me to apologize for this comment. I refuse to apologize for telling the truth aloud. I don’t see a chance in a court dominated by warlords to do me justice. However, another reason was, for the fear of personal security, no advocate was ready to plead my case. Now a lawyer has agreed to plead my case and I would move the court. (She went to court in April). However, I would tell the court that not me but war lords be brought in the dock.

As far as Hamid Karzai is concerned, he has been shamelessly silent on my suspension by an undemocratic parliament. I never contacted him. He should have contacted me. On the other hand, there were demonstrations across Afghanistan against my suspension. Karzai’s police proved good only at breaking up these demonstrations. But also what Karzai could have done? He is ridiculed by the people of Afghanistan as mayor of Kabul since his control does not extend beyond Kabul.

How come than Karzai is in power and how come you keep declaring Afghan parliament as undemocratic when it has been elected in general elections?

Joya: Well, this is a parliament in which 80 per cent of the members are warlords or drug lords. They either snatched their places in parliament at gun point or bought these seats off with US dollars. In some cases, both guns and dollars played a role. Even Human Rights Watch has accused some leading members of this parliament of war crimes. But this parliament, in a unique move, granted warlords an amnesty against crimes committed during the war. Even Mulla Umar can benefit after this amnesty.

Karzai, who was voted in as a lesser evil, has been co-operating with these criminals all the time. Hence, no wonder if he is unpopular today. But he is sustained in the presidential palace by USA and all the warlords co-operate with the USA:

By the way, one hears more about Karzai’s brother in Kabul than Karzai himself. Every other posh real estate project or every second case of corruption is attributed to the younger Karzai. He is also named when it comes to drug peddling?

Joya: Corruption and drug trafficking have become a big issues. In my view, security is the biggest issue. After that it is corruption. The so-called international community which in fact is US government and its allies, has sent a lot of money. This amount was enough to build two instead of one Afghanistan. But even Karzai himself confesses that the money has ended up in the pockets of ministers, bureaucrats and member parliaments. On the other hand, one hears about a mother in Heart selling her daughter for ten dollars. And not merely the brother of Karzai is a drug lord, foreign troops have been allegedly involved.

Really? Any proof? Press reports?

Joya: Yes some press reports have pointed that out. For instance, Russian state TV has hinted at US troops involvement in drug trafficking. That was reported in the press here. But this is like an open secret. Karzai in one of his speeches last year said that it was not only Afghans who are involved in drug trafficking. He hinted at foreign connections. Though he did not name any country or troops but people in Afghanistan understood what he meant. Now Afghan drugs are finding their way to New York and European capitals. Hence, no wonder today Afghanistan is producing 90 per cent of world opium. This is taking its toll on women. Now we hear about ‘opium brides’. When harvests fail, peasants are not able to pay back loans to drug lords; they ‘marry’ their daughters off to warlords instead.

Why is the USA letting all this happen?

Joya: The USA wants the things as they are.The status quo. A bleeding, suffering Afghanistan is a good excuse to prolong its stay. Now they are even embracing the Taliban. Recently, in Musa Qila, a Taliban commander Mulla Salam was appointed as governor by Karzai. The USA has no problem with the Taliban so long as it’s ‘our Taliban’.

Not merely Karzai, but also all these war lords have been sustained in power by the USA. That is why, when there are demonstrations against war lords, there are also demonstrations against foreign troops. People here believe that the warlords are cushioned by the US troops. If the USA leaves, the warlords will loose power because they have no base among our people. The people of Afghanistan will deal with these warlords once US troops leave Afghanistan.

Don’t you think security situation will get even worse once troops pack off?

Joya: Maybe. But tell the people in Sweden that Swedish troops are helping implement US agenda in Afghanistan. The democracy-loving people of Sweden should rather support democratic forces in Afghanistan and instead of sending soldiers; Sweden should send doctors, nurses, teachers and build schools and hospitals.

Farooq Sulehria lives in Sweden and can be reached at mfsulehria@hotmail.com

 

[RabzonKhan]

Bearing Witness: The Afghan Tragedy

Malalai Joya
October 7, 2008

My own life and hardships speak for themselves about the obstacles Afghan women face today. I've been threatened with death; I've survived a number of assassination attempts; and every effort is made by the fundamentalists to silence me. But I am happy to enjoy support of the peace-loving people of the world. I am especially grateful to Reach All Women in War (RAW in WAR) for considering me for the Anna Politkovskaya Award of 2008.

deeply honored to receive this award, which links me to the memory of an extraordinary woman who sacrificed her life for telling the truth and fighting for justice. Her perseverance, bravery and dedication to justice inspire me. By receiving this award, I once again vow not to stop for a moment from telling the truth in the face of death threats and intimidation.

Exactly seven years ago, the United States and its allies attacked Afghanistan in the name of liberating Afghanistan and its women. Weeks after the overthrow of the Taliban regime, Laura Bush stated proudly, "Because of our recent military gains in much of Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women."

But only few days ago, a top European diplomat Francesc Vendrell warned that Afghanistan is in the worst shape since 2001. In an interview with BBC he said, "In 2002, we were being welcomed almost as liberators by the Afghans. Now we are being seen as a necessary evil."

Seven years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, our devastated country is still chained to the fundamentalist warlords and the Taliban; the country is like an unconscious body breathing its last.

The US government and its allies exploited the plight of Afghan women to legitimate its so-called "war on terror" and attack on Afghanistan. The medieval and brutal regime of the Taliban was toppled, but instead of relying on Afghan people, the United States and its allies pushed us from the frying pan to the fire and brought the infamous criminals of the "Northern Alliance" into power--sworn enemies of democracy and human rights, who are as dark-minded, evil, anti-women and cruel as the Taliban.

Only few months ago, US National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell told the Senate Armed Services Committee that 70 percent of Afghanistan is lawless. The Afghan government has control of only 30 percent of the country, and where the Taliban and local warlords hold power, there is no rule of law.

Our nation is still living under the shadow of war, crimes and brutalities of the fundamentalists, and women are the primary and silent sacrifice of this situation. Justice doesn't exist in Afghanistan. Every sector of life in Afghanistan today is a tragedy, from women's rights to security, law and order and domination of a drug mafia.

Women suffer especially. The rates of self-immolation and suicide due to domestic violence and poverty, of forced marriages and violence against women are higher than ever. In the first six months of 2008, forty-seven cases of self-immolation among women were reported in a single hospital in the western city of Herat. Reports come every day of gang rapes of young girls, especially in the northern portion of Afghanistan, where pro-US warlords have full power and a free hand. But the rapists are not prosecuted. Last month President Hamid Karzai ordered the release of two men who were sentenced to eighteen years in prison for raping and killing a girl.

The propaganda to the world about liberating Afghanistan and women and fighting against terrorists are lies. I believe that no nation can donate liberation to another nation. Democracy, human rights and women's rights are not things someone gives to us. We must achieve these values ourselves.

It is a heart-wrenching fact that Afghanistan has received $15 billion in aid, but up to 70 percent of my people live on less than $2 a day. Corruption and poverty have made life a torture for millions. Afghanistan is deeply suffering from a health scourge caused mainly by lack of facilities. The death rate of mothers during childbirth is incredibly high--similar to rates of other dangerous diseases like tuberculosis.

Afghanistan dominates the drug market, with the highest production of opium in the world--93 percent--and ranks last in terms of human development. Over the past seven years, the Taliban and other terrorist groups have become ever more powerful; today even Kabul is besieged by the Taliban and people are deeply afraid of their return to rule.

US and NATO forces kill more Afghan civilians than enemies of Afghan people. Thousands of innocent Afghan women and children have been killed in the US/NATO operations. On July 6, 2008, US troops bombed a wedding party in Nengarhar province and killed forty-seven civilians--including the bride. In the similar tragic incident, twenty-seven civilians perished in a US-led NATO attack in a remote village of Nouristan. In an air raid on Azizabad village in Heart province over ninety civilians were killed, sixty of them children, according to the United Nations.

My suffering people have been well and truly betrayed over the past seven years by the US and allies. They were invaded and bombed in the name of democracy, human rights and women's rights, but the most infamous enemies of these values were supported and installed into the power. They relied on the Northern Alliance bands who have a history full of bloodshed, treason and crimes against our people.

The only sector in which Afghanistan has progressed is in drug cultivation and trafficking. "The four largest players in the heroin business are all senior members of the Afghan government," the Daily Mail reported July 21, 2007. That is why today drug-mafia holds the real power; the insurgency and warlords all have hand in this dirty business.

Afghan people today believe that the United States is willing to put us in danger as long as its own regional and economic interests are met. Because years of conflict in Afghanistan have raised political consciousness, people here hold the United States responsible for pushing Afghanistan to its current tragedies.



About Malalai Joya
An advocate for womens rights--particularly rape victims--and elected member of the Afghan Parliament from Farah province, Malalai Joya is an outspoken critic of warlords and war criminals in her country's government. She was suspended from Parliament in 2007 on grounds that she had insulted other lawmakers.

 

[BATMAN]

No one can be more brutal to its own people than warlords of northern alliance constituting present Afghan parliament.
Once they ruled Afghanistan in different pieces but their attitude towards their people initiated the Taliban revolution and comparatively better treatment made them popular in days and they defeated all those warlords even when they become united.
They only managed to save their *** when indian army intervened and started fighting with Taliban with imported hitech weapons, otherwise those warlords would have been a history and world would have been a much more peaceful.

 

[RabzonKhan]

No one can be more brutal to its own people than warlords of northern alliance constituting present Afghan parliament.
Once they ruled Afghanistan in different pieces but their attitude towards their people initiated the Taliban revolution and comparatively better treatment made them popular in days and they defeated all those warlords even when they become united.
They only managed to save their *** when indian army intervened and started fighting with Taliban with imported hitech weapons, otherwise those warlords would have been a history and world would have been a much more peaceful.

I agree with you on NA terrorists, but the Taliban’s were no angels either, during their rule there were very few girls schools, Women could not go out in public unless accompanied by a male member of their family, men had to wear beards of a specific length, no recreational activity, no TV, CD or internet.No one deserves that kind of crap.

 

[Zero Bravo]

@ Rabzon's first post.


hahaha, I cant help laughing at your narrowmindness. Where the heck is your imaginary created 'Northern Alliance'???

There is no such a group in Afghanistan anymore.

Secondly, Malalia Joya has been injected by western propaganda deep to her bones. She is totally a moron. Her only intention is to absorb as much attention as she can from the media.

She is quite like Emran Khan in pakistan, however, the difference is that Emran Khan is anti American and she is pro.

When she despises her rivals, she doesn't literally mean 'the northern alliance warlords" (as you say), she insults the Afghan Mujaheddin (even the martyred ones!) who fought the Russians to death.

 

[Zero Bravo]

No one can be more brutal to its own people than warlords of northern alliance constituting present Afghan parliament.
Once they ruled Afghanistan in different pieces but their attitude towards their people initiated the Taliban revolution and comparatively better treatment made them popular in days and they defeated all those warlords even when they become united.
They only managed to save their *** when indian army intervened and started fighting with Taliban with imported hitech weapons, otherwise those warlords would have been a history and world would have been a much more peaceful.

According to Pakistanis;

The Taliban were holy fighters when they fought their rivals before the US invasion in Afghanistan, and their rivals the terrorists.

Its vice versa in Pakistan now. Now the Taliban are terrorists and their rivals the mujaheddin, brave jawans and God knows what else!

Is this because the victims in Taliban/NA war were Afghans and now Pakistanis die in this 'holy jehad'??? mmm??

Man, the Taliban/NA war was the internal Afghan dispute. Who were good and who werent?........Afghans know well!

You cant make baseless assumption about internal Afghan issues while sitting back in Pakistan.

lol, Indians had never had hands in the said war. Those were only Pakistanis (those who came for 'Jihad' and fought the NA), Russians and French who were stirring the turmoil in Afghanistan.

P.S, No hard feelings bro.

 

[Munir]

>>>The Taliban were holy fighters when the fought their rivals before the US invasion in Afghanistan, and their rivals the terrorists.

Holy fighters? Crap. They were fighting for theiir country whoch was sold by minor group of Afghans to the Russians. These were hradly trained farmers which were handy for US (CIA and under direc order to ISI) to be wasted against Russian. You can call it holy but I call it to dumb to understand the fact that they were used as foot soldiers... I do not see much difference between terrorism on state level or soldier level... The only non terrorist are the people that stay at home and get killed.

>>>Its vice versa in Pakistan now. Now the Taliban are terrorists and their rivals the mujaheddin, brave jawans and God knows what else!

It is propaganda you mean... Correct.

>>>Is this because the victims in Taliban/NA war were Afghans and now Pakistanis die in this 'holy jehad'??? mmm??

NA alliance started abusing Pashtuns. Just explain why the almost eradicats Kabul? NA is a group of warlords that are famous for their loverboys... They pushed Pashtuns away thanks to greedy US which wanted to kill some to stop Al Qaida... Nothing more then that cause Taleban did not attack US.

>>>Man, the Taliban/NA war was the internal Afghan dispute. Who were good and who werent?........Afghans know well!

Sure... Both were soldiers for the US...

You cant make baseless assumption about internal Afghan issues while sitting back in Pakistan.

>>>lol, Indians had never had hands in the said war. Those were only Pakistanis (those who came for 'Jihad' and fought the NA), Russians and French who were stirring the turmoil in Afghanistan.

You must be a moron. Indians are so happy to get involved they even wanted to pass Pakistan and give US bases to attack Afghanistan and Pakistan. Either you are a braindead Afghanistani or an Indian.


>>P.S, No hard feelings bro

Sure. Turning everything upside down and then no hard feelings. So you blaim ISI and adore India and we should see it as no hard feelings? The fact is that India is busy in Afghanistan. Just count the number of counsulates... Just see how they beg to get there... As if Afghanistan is filled with gold and honey... The only reason is to direct them against Pakistan. So not only is India terrorizing Kashmir it is sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan. Just like it does with Tamil terrorists in Sri Lanka...

I do have hard feelings and lucky for you I am just not a mod.

 

[RabzonKhan]

@ Rabzon's first post.


hahaha, I cant help laughing at your narrowmindness. Where the heck is your imaginary created 'Northern Alliance'???

There is no such a group in Afghanistan anymore.

Secondly, Malalia Joya has been injected by western propaganda deep to her bones. She is totally a moron. Her only intention is to absorb as much attention as she can from the media.

She is quite like Emran Khan in pakistan, however, the difference is that Emran Khan is anti American and she is pro.

When she despises her rivals, she doesn't literally mean 'the northern alliance warlords" (as you say), she insults the Afghan Mujaheddin (even the martyred ones!) who fought the Russians to death.

This is coming from a guy who said, “Indians have a clear resume in Afghanistan”.

I’d rather trust Malalia Joya than you.

 

[Evil Flare]

India should See inside their own country where atleat 17 freedom movement going ON ...

 

[RabzonKhan]

A brave woman in Afghanistan

Human rights are in crisis in Afghanistan, where fundamentalist warlords hold high office and child abuse and gang rapes are on the increase. When Malalai Joya, a young female Afghan politician, spoke out against the presence of 'war criminals' in the affairs of state, she was expelled from parliament among shouts of ‘whore’ and ‘communist’. The recipient of various international prizes for bravery, she speaks of her commitment to defend the rights of women and children despite numerous attempts on her life


Democracy in Afghanistan is a pretence, says Joya. Photograph: Monica Munich

Death threats are an ongoing feature of my everyday existence and I’ve survived four assassination attempts. I’m targeted because I defend human rights and equality for women in a country where rape, forced marriages and inhuman acts of child abuse are a fact of daily life.

Examples range from the 22-year-old woman raped in front of her children by 15 local commanders of a fundamentalist party, or an 18-year-old who hanged herself to avoid being sold to a 60-year-old man, through to a young girl kidnapped by warlords and raped in exchange for a dog, and a young teenage girl raped by three men who then sadistically cut her private parts.

I live in hiding and move from one safe house to another, never spending more than one night in the same location. It’s somehow ironic that the burqa – a symbol of female subjugation under the Taliban – has become my disguise. I describe the garment as a living shroud that affords some degree of security.

While my family are in the west of Afghanistan, I live in Kabul because I am a member of parliament. But on May 21 last year, I was censored for exercising my right of free expression. I was accused of [violating the rules of procedure and] insulting parliament.

Although the threats against my life increased after that day, the first major incident that drove me into hiding was at the Loya Jirga, the constitutional assembly, in 2003, while the eyes of the world’s press were upon us. Although I was a delegate, I was not allowed to speak. But when I asked to speak for the "young generation" of Afghanistan – I was 24 at the time – I was given three minutes. After one minute my microphone was cut because I publicly denounced the presence of mujahideen warlords, criminals and drug traffickers in the assembly. I was branded an "infidel" and there were shouts of "take her out, she is a whore, a communist".

Some fundamentalist women wanted to physically attack me, while the good democrat women surrounded me to protect me from the soldiers who had been ordered to remove me from the chamber. These women said: "She is our daughter; who are you?" I was asked to apologise by the speaker of the assembly but I only wanted to stand up and finish my speech. It was then that these democrat women stopped me from standing up because they knew I would be forcibly taken out and beaten if I did.

The UN requested that I leave for my own safety, but I said no, I would not leave until the meeting was over. They thought that I was afraid, but I was not. The UN waited and then ushered me out and whisked me away in a car with dark windows to a place of hiding.

With the entire incident filmed and reported by the international media, at that moment it appeared that democracy in the Loya Jirga had been exposed as a pretence. The warlords saw this and they saw how much support I got from outside.

As a war baby, political activism is in my blood. When the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979 I was four days old. My father was a medical student at the time and a democrat. By the time I was four years old, he had a price on his head and we had to flee the country. We lived in poverty-stricken refugee camps until I was 18, first in Iran and then Pakistan.

At secondary school in the Pakistan refugee camp, I volunteered to teach afternoon literacy classes. There I encountered many orphans and women living in the hope that their kidnapped fathers and husbands would reappear. But no one knew if their men-folk were alive or dead. I have many memories of their suffering. This experience had a profound impact on my life and that was when I became a social activist.

Under the present regime – that has illegally banned me from parliament – women’s rights continue to erode. The rates of self-immolation and suicide due to forced marriages, domestic violence and poverty are now higher than ever. In the first six months of 2008, 47 cases of self-immolation among women have been recorded in a single hospital in the western city of Herat. Gang rapes of young girls are reported almost every day, especially in the northern part of Afghanistan where pro-US warlords have full power and a free hand.

The perpetrators of these crimes should have to face the courts. But every day they become more powerful. Now the US wants to negotiate with the brutal Taliban and share power with them.

One of the many disturbing cases in which I have tried to help was the rape of a four-year-old girl. When small children are raped there is severe internal damage. Every few minutes she had to go to the toilet. I told as many people as possible about what had happened to her and finally some supporters and one hospital said that they would take responsibility for her and even provide her with an education. But when her father accepted money from the warlords they told him to keep his daughter at home, and he agreed. For two days I cried a lot. I told the man that he was not a good father, that he was just another kind of criminal.

A further disturbing case is that of a 12-year-old schoolgirl who was raped by three men – one of whom is the son of a member of parliament. His father is accused of using his position of power to officially change his son’s age from 23 to 16 so that he could avoid prosecution. Such MPs would not be lawmakers, but lawbreakers; they do not want to put law into practice. The police paid little attention to the case. The one policeman who did lost his job.

I have raised these issues many times in parliament, but the politicians remain silent. Even the few male and female democrat MPs don’t raise these human rights issues, especially if they involve women. I challenge them and I know that it’s risky, but it’s important. That’s why they expelled me.

The 12-year-old's father was offered a bribe by the warlords to drop the case. He refused. He is very poor but he sold a piece of land to raise enough money to fight the case. The warlords made many attempts on his life, but he survived.

He is a good father and there are many other good fathers like him in Afghanistan. They want justice, but there is no justice available. That is the problem. In one of his interviews on local Afghan TV, he said that if justice were not done he would become a suicide bomber and take revenge.

Sadly, the US seems to be giving a helping hand to these criminal warlords. In 2001 the US government invaded Afghanistan in the name of democracy, but it has betrayed our people by helping to power the bloodiest enemies of these values. The horrible regime of the Taliban was replaced by corrupt and brutal warlords and former Russian puppets.

The plight of victims such as these girls is my driving force. I will never give up my fight for justice, and I’ll continue to try to represent the millions of voiceless Afghan people – especially women and children – who are still being brutalised by fundamentalist warlords and the Taliban.

 

[fatman17]

Is Malalai Joya the Bravest Woman in Afghanistan?
An Afghan Woman Who Stands Up to the Warlords

or the world!!!

 

[S-2]

"Just count the number of counsulates[sic]..."

O.k.

Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazur-I-Sharif, and an embassy in Kabul.

How many do you count, Munir? I see four and an embassy. No big deal.

Was that Hekmatyar that chose to shell Kabul?

How many Hazara were murdered in Mazur-I-Sharif when captured by the taliban? It's not at all pretty on the pashtu side of the ledger- by far.

This story cuts brutally both ways and I expect no love lost by Pakistanis who choose to arbitrarily support pashtuns against uzbeks, turkomen, tadjiks, and Hazaras.

That, unfortunately, is the problem all the way around. So long as broad agendas promoting this ethnicity against that, there'll be no change for the better. That a tadjik, uzbek, or pashtu is the best choice to lead or represent based on anything but their personal abilities will hold Afghanistan in perpetual enmity.

It's all about performance and none have proven a lock on good sense and concern for the greater good of the poor smoh.

Warlords and druglords? There isn't a one on BOTH sides whose hands aren't ****** in the trade and corruption.

Elections. Free and fair and nothing but will change matters. Even then it'll take decades. That's assuming no electoral coup d'etats that would affirm the primacy of one over all others.

The pashtu must vote. They must SEIZE power by the vote- and then prove themselves to be worthy of such opportunity for the betterment of all. If not, then the burden of evidence will fall to their failure. Let's hope not if and when. The plurality is there. There are enough foreigners in Afghanistan to assure some semblance of fairness to next year's elections.

After that, we'll see.

 

[roadrunner]

It's not about seizing power by the vote. The political process in Afghanistan is currently geared towards the Tajiks. Who do the Pashtun have to vote for? Perhaps Karzai, but most Pashtuns hate Karzai. He's actually pro Tajik, and very corrupt.

All the ethnic groups have done their share of the blood letting in Afghanistan. But the Pashtun should have the majority share of the power, because they are the majority ethnic group. Afghanistan is named after them.