When Freedom Endures
Afghans have gone to the polls, and it looks like a victory for warlords. (BBC Link.) Among the winners are several warlords (not surprising, as they're the best known leadership in the country) and a former Taleban commander. Before you get your knickers in a twist, let's remember that Hamid Karzai initially supported the Taleban; in a country with as much of a power vacuum as Afghanistan used to be, being involved with the grabastic Taleban militia doesn't necessarily make one an Islamist thug; besides, he can't be any more of a thug than some of the riff raff we have in Congress. Also, aside from the questionable victors, one of the big winners is a twenty-seven year old women's rights worker.
There are accusations of fraud from both candidates and the U.N.-Afghan election officials; approximately one percent of the polling stations have been excluded from vote counting for this reason.
Even with the vote fraud and the questionable candidates, take this into consideration: they're running for office. On 10th September 2001, that women's rights worker would have been silent and covered from head to toe, and she could have been stoned to death if a man had looked at her the wrong way. Now she's a member of parliament. The warlords, the former Taleban commander, they would have "settled their differences" by shooting at each other or launching a couple of mortars better suited for a museum; instead, they ran for office, they got elected, and they'll be able to influence the establishment of their new country. That's huge progress, in only four years. Four years, people! In four years, the Afghans have gone from being little more than Pakleds, uncivilized savages living in rubble with broken, borrowed technology; to a semi-civilized people who, though loosely unified, are still dedicated to working and living together. That's a huge accomplishment, and we helped.
And remember how the Uzbeks have requested an American withdrawal from the K2 air base? Well, the U.S. Senate, in a rare demonstration of overwhelming common sense, has voted to block a twenty-three million dollar payment to the Uzbek government. It makes sense to me; if we can't use the air base, they don't get our money. Somehow, I don't think they'll whine endlessly about it like all of those Germans did when the DOD announced that we'd be gradually withdrawing from most of our German bases.
There are accusations of fraud from both candidates and the U.N.-Afghan election officials; approximately one percent of the polling stations have been excluded from vote counting for this reason.
Even with the vote fraud and the questionable candidates, take this into consideration: they're running for office. On 10th September 2001, that women's rights worker would have been silent and covered from head to toe, and she could have been stoned to death if a man had looked at her the wrong way. Now she's a member of parliament. The warlords, the former Taleban commander, they would have "settled their differences" by shooting at each other or launching a couple of mortars better suited for a museum; instead, they ran for office, they got elected, and they'll be able to influence the establishment of their new country. That's huge progress, in only four years. Four years, people! In four years, the Afghans have gone from being little more than Pakleds, uncivilized savages living in rubble with broken, borrowed technology; to a semi-civilized people who, though loosely unified, are still dedicated to working and living together. That's a huge accomplishment, and we helped.
And remember how the Uzbeks have requested an American withdrawal from the K2 air base? Well, the U.S. Senate, in a rare demonstration of overwhelming common sense, has voted to block a twenty-three million dollar payment to the Uzbek government. It makes sense to me; if we can't use the air base, they don't get our money. Somehow, I don't think they'll whine endlessly about it like all of those Germans did when the DOD announced that we'd be gradually withdrawing from most of our German bases.
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