Word: kabul
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Hamid Karzai is a lot tougher on Western donors than on his querulous countrymen. Afghanistan's interim leader Thursday escorted former king Zahir Shah back to Kabul after three decades in exile, last week upbraided international donors gathered in Kabul to discuss the country's budget. "So far we've only given hope to the Afghan people and not real activity," he said, slamming the international community's sluggish pace in delivering promised aid. "And don't expect us to give you a report every month," he said. "We'll give you a report when we want to give...
...Karzai's confidence in dealing with the international community may be growing, but his grip on power at home remains precarious. Just over halfway through his six-month term as the country's first post-Taliban leader, he still looks more like the Mayor of Kabul than the ruler of Afghanistan. The limits on his authority beyond the capital were underscored last week when opium-poppy farmers angry at Kabul's plans to eradicate their crops fired on government officials and blocked the main road linking Kabul to Pakistan. And attacks continue by anonymous groups opposed to the government...
...Bonn Agreement was supposed to establish an interim government representative of all of the diverse anti-Taliban groups in Afghanistan in order to appease all of the major warlords. However, shortly before international forces arrived in Kabul last winter, the largest faction in the “Northern Alliance”—the Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e-Islami party—took over and occupied the capital. In exchange for withdrawing their forces from Kabul, Jamiat-e-Islami received the choicest cabinet positions, including the foreign, interior and defense ministries...
...Northern Alliance forces have dismantled al Qaeda’s Afghanistan operation, Washington is looking to pack up and leave, not expand the force. The remaining foreign soldiers, comprising an International Security Assistance Force led by Britain, is only 4,800 strong and its mandate is limited to Kabul. Both Karzai and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan have repeatedly requested more troops, but Washington has consistently refused...
Afghanistan is more than just Kabul. The same cast of characters that ravaged Afghanistan in the post-Soviet, pre-Taliban days are still holding the guns. If the international community does not develop an effective strategy for dealing with these characters, then do not be surprised if Afghanistan lapses back into anarchy...