POLITICS: Karzai Sworn In As Afghan Leader.

Following a landslide election victory on October 9th, Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first democratically elected President today. The inauguration took place at the heavily fortified presidential palace in Kabul and was attented by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Also sworn in as Co-Vice Presidents were Ahmed Zia Masood and Ustad Mohammed Karim Khalili.



President Karzai' government has a huge task ahead of it. Opium farming is estimated at 60% of Afghanistans GNP, Taliban warlords have been somewhat reduced but are still well and truely active and the entire Middle East is in flux.

[edit on 12-7-2004 by Zion Mainframe]

Hope he can do some good for his country. His people deserve better than what they have now.

Finally they had elections. The US had a large part in that success, and the Afghanistanis came out in large numbers to vote.

Thankfully, the reports of Al Qaeda mustering all remaining resources in an attempt to assasinate Cheney never came to fruition. I was truly surprised to see both Cheny and Rumsfeld in the audience.

Good step for Afganistan and a good step for the U.S. I wonder how long our troops will have to stay there? No doubt for a while, but once the political systems gets entrenched, it should remain stable for some time.

Originally posted by jsobecky
Finally they had elections. The US had a large part in that success

If you call the inaguration in a "heavily fortified palace complex" a success, let me point out a gap in your logic. Karzai doesn't control the country outside Kabul (and possibly outside the palace). The country is run by warlords and drug barons, which often are the same. The output of opium and its derivatives increased manyfold.

Some success.

....Who says Karzai isn't the head of the opium cartel, or at least a mediatior, I mean, drugs is gonna be around as long as there are people, also Musharaf is believed to partly buy those neat american wartoys with Pashtun opiummoney, I don't hear the usa complain about that. the war on drugs is nice prop/crowd control for inside the usa, outside ANYTHING goes.


[edit on 7-12-2004 by Countermeasures]

Originally posted by FredT
I wonder how long our troops will have to stay there? No doubt for a while, but once the political systems gets entrenched, it should remain stable for some time.

Keep in mind that the US and Nato are still in serbai/bosnia. Heck the US is still in Germany and Japan, but thats a different story.

aleta
Some success.

Considering that there were no massed attacks, protests or uprisings, it most certainly was a success. Karzai is weak, agreed, and the central government there is not able to put down the bandits and warlords, yet. But then again this is the first democratically elected leader of the country, ever. And he was sworn in on a relatively uneventful day. The taliban and other terrorists had said that they were going to disrupt it,but they didn't. Thats a success. Not a great wild 'wo ha' one, but a success nonetheless.

[edit on 7-12-2004 by Nygdan]

I am abit hesitant to reply to this post with my genuin thoughts..!!
but I'll start with saying"Sure it's A GREAT thing for Afganistan,that they can enjoy some stability and basic human rights,superb!!", I watched yesterday with aw at the inaugeration,then I also noticed Vice President Dick..C. present...to cut a long story short I've read somewhere just last week that scince the end of war the supply of 'Opium' has peeked like never befor..Afgan..has always been No.1 supplyer at a rate of around 65-70% of ALL Opium in the Wolrd sreets .NOW it's up at 90%..you might,say what does that have to do with the Vice...well You Tell Me...One of the site below passed my field of vision just yesterday while searching for something else.....but I'll supply both links ....and let you give me some feedback on the matter...and I'll repl accordingly..

Earlier this year the head of the United Nations drugs control agency said efforts to tackle Afghanistan's growing drugs trade were failing. The UK-based development agency Spirit Aid offers a radical solution to the problem.

During the 1990s, five or six provinces in Afghanistan were cultivating opium poppy.

Since the fall of the Taleban, that number has increased to 28 out of 32 regions. That is a major factor in worsening violence this year as people struggle to survive and fight for control of this illegal, socially damaging but lucrative resource.

Afghan farmers produce opium that is sold for some $2.3bn, according to United Nations estimates.

Its value is vastly inflated beyond that by the time it reaches its Western consumers.

Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) joined with coalition partners, the State Department, and the Department of Defense (DOD), in announcing its involvement in the U.S. Embassy Kabul Counternarcotics Implementation Plan. This Five Pillar Plan provides DEA opportunities as never before to reduce heroin production in Afghanistan and contribute to the stabilization and rebuilding of this war-torn country. Afghanistan is the world�s leading opium producer.

www.usdoj.gov...

This second link Hower is the Worrying ONE....

The Bush family's involvement in drug-running is an open secret, but Dick Cheney's direct link to a global drug pipeline through a US construction company is less well known.

This is a joke RIGHT???.....

www.nexusmagazine.com...

p.s. I am well 'Aware' of the miseries the opuim brings to the User,and also The Money is flows into the mover's pokets..
The case of the CIA's involvement in the 'Golder Triange' region during the Vietnam WAR ,...;( Do The Math,..Opium..in Afgan.;& OIL..in Iraq....
I don't Know Maybe it's Just Me being NIaeve!!!..

Originally posted by Aelita

Originally posted by jsobecky
Finally they had elections. The US had a large part in that success

If you call the inaguration in a "heavily fortified palace complex" a success, let me point out a gap in your logic. Karzai doesn't control the country outside Kabul (and possibly outside the palace). The country is run by warlords and drug barons, which often are the same. The output of opium and its derivatives increased manyfold.

Some success.

There were many foreign digntaries in attendance, thus the tight security. I fail to see your point.

Opium has been a staple crop in Afghanistan for centuries. Most of the fields are cultivated by poor farmers. We could wipe out the crops with Agent Orange or some such defoliant, but have not done so for humanitarian reasons. We want the farmers to replace the opium with legal crops that can support them and their families.

Karzai does not have total control of the country but once again, so what? Nobody has that in Afghanistan. And one thing for sure, the Taliban sure does not control the entire country as they once did.

The fact that the elections were held at all is a success. And the voters were not all from Kabul. It is a major step in the right direction for the people of Afghanistan.

Do you realize what accomplishments the Afghanis have achieved? Women were not allowed to go to school just a few short years ago. That in itself is a major success story.

I wonder if Unocal, the California-based oil company Karzai used to work for, will reap any rewards from having the US choose him as the Afghan president? Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to Afghanistan, also worked for Unocal. I'm starting to see a pattern.

Well, on the opium issue anyway, the country was a huge supplier before the taliban. Apparenlty opium is to afghanistan like cotton was to the confederacy. Not much else to do out there. Anyway, the taliban were only able to control it because they could be so ruthless in supressing it. And obviously all that they were really able to do was keep it from being a profitable business while they were there. The didn't get rid of the opium farmers and drug lords, they just forced them into temporary quiessence. Karzai would surely be lampooned across the civilized world if he started executing opium field workers and stringing up their warlords.

Originally posted by Nygdan
Karzai would surely be lampooned across the civilized world if he started executing opium field workers and stringing up their warlords.

In the free and democratic state of Oklahoma, if you posess more than 100 plant of MJ (which is far, far cry from opium), you can get a life w/o parole. Lampoon my arse.

Moral of the story: the West acquiesced to the imminent burst in opium production in Afghanistan. Karzai is impotent. The moment the US spec ops leave he'll be strung by the balls.

Some success.

Originally posted by Aelita

In the free and democratic state of Oklahoma, if you posess more than 100 plant of MJ (which is far, far cry from opium), you can get a life w/o parole.

Ok, and even the people that do that are called fascists and mean-spirited. Imagine if they also burnt down your house and smashed your skull in in the parking lot of the local supermarket, leaving you to die, for it. Thats the level of threat that the taliban could bring against these farmers. Look at teh negative reaction to merely arresting and prosecuting people who possess and sell pot. Its somehow not going to be worse for what karzai'd have to do to force opium fields to shut down?

Lampoon my arse.

That really doesn't sound right.

Moral of the story: the West acquiesced to the imminent burst in opium production in Afghanistan. Karzai is impotent. The moment the US spec ops leave he'll be strung by the balls.

Prolly

Some success.

You think it will be the same in 10 years?

My friend in the former Soviet Union was shot dead in Afghanistan in the last month of his tour of duty. It was 20 years ago, almost to the day.

Extrapolating this, the campaign is just as lunatic as anything happening on this crazy planet right now.

No, things won't get better.


[edit on 7-12-2004 by Aelita]