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President Hamid Karzai strikes an appealing pose for western eyes, a stylishly dressed Afghan leader whose smooth English speech has offered reassurance, over the years, that his regime is truly committed to leading the Afghan people to peace and stability. Recently, though, the fashionista president’s pitch has been much less persuasive.
At a news conference earlier this week, his guise slipped entirely, offering the world an opportunity to glimpse, if only for a moment, what an increasingly restive majority of the Afghan people have recognized for some time: Mr. Karzai’s existence behind his palace walls has left him isolated, detached from reality. In this state, say his critics, extremist aids and ministers have come to dominate affairs of state.
The newser was at an aid conference in Kabul - the Afghanistan Development Forum. The international donors present could be forgiven for wondering what list of excuses Mr. Karzai might have offered: for his Attorney General's violent police raid on Tolo TV; for his Information Minister's related censorship legislation; for continuing chaos in counter-narcotics policing at Kabul Airport, and for his administration's underperformance in delivering basic services to the public.
Canadians, specifically, might have expected at least a presidential nod of regret for landing their armed forces in a scandal over the alleged mistreatment of Taliban prisoners by Afghan security forces, who take charge of combatants captured by Canadian troops.
Instead, the president brazenly asked for more aid money from western democracies, and for more of those funds to go directly to his regime’s ministries. Astonishingly, he even celebrated the exploits of his accident prone Attorney General, Abdul Jabar Sabet.
“The Attorney General we have today is one that is in a head-on clash with the bad guys,” the president said.
Two weeks ago, policemen under the Attorney General’s orders arrested seven journalists without warrants, and delivered them to his office. Several of the reporters were beaten, some with rifle butts and kicks to the groin. Only the intervention of Afghanistan’s vice-president, Ahmed Zia Massoud, led to the victims’ release.
That Sabet is capable of such rash and violent action comes as no surprise to most Afghans. Like Information Minister Karim Khoram, Sabet was a long-time confederate of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose Hizbe Islami is listed internationally as a terrorist organization. Hekmatyar is not a warlord given to earning the public’s respect. Instead he tries to create fear and obedience, whenever possible with rockets and bombs. He is loathed by Kabulis as the guerrilla leader most responsible for the devastation of their city in the civil war of the early 1990’s.
Sabet and Khoram are not the Karzai regime’s only graduates of this old warlord’s school of brute-force politics. Their master at the President’s Palace is Farook Wardak, another former acolyte of Brother Hekmatyar. Wardak is government minister for parliamentary affairs, and heads the president’s Office of the Chief of Staff.
Farook Wardak shares his fellow ministers’ impatience with Afghanistan’s energetic and frank news media. On one recent occasion, he instructed Sabet to arrest and jail a writer from the northern city of Baghlan for satirizing Wardak’s influence over Karzai.
Next on skyreporter.com – what parliamentarians and senior civil servants think about Karzai’s creep towards fundamentalist excesses of power.
Short version: they're bracing for more.
12 Comments
Dear Arthur,
I don't understand why you rely on the propaganda of a very few facist elements among Afghan society. The allegations listed above are quite far from the truth. Jabar sabet and Khoram were with Hekmatyar at times when Ronald Reagon and the whole western world unanimously supported his cause. Particularily US provided him (Hizb-e-Islami) with the Lion's share of its millions of dollars of financial aid for war against the then USSR.
These very few elements never represent Afghan masses. And if you are monitoring media there is a lot of support for the Attorney General for his campaign against the curruption and misuse of power withing institutions. He is widely praised and well supported for this by majority of Afghans. It was the demand of Afghans to appoint sincere and pious people in key government positions such as Sabet and Khoram. Being an independant and mature journalist, one expects you be very impartial and unbiased.
Thank you
Even a word of this article is not correct.
(5 September 1999, Jerusalem) The switch away from daylight savings time caused consternation among terrorist groups this year. At precisely 5:30 Israel time on Sunday, two coordinated car bombs exploded in different cities, killing three terrorists who were transporting the bombs. It was initially believed that the devices had been detonated prematurely by klutzy amateurs. A closer look revealed the truth behind the untimely explosions.Three days before, Israel had made a premature switch from daylight savings time to standard time in order to accommodate a week of Slihot, involving pre-sunrise prayers. Palestinians refused to "live on Zionist time." Two weeks of scheduling havoc ensued. The bombs had been prepared in a Palestine-controlled area, and set on Daylight Savings time. The confused drivers had already switched to standard time. As a result, the cars were still en-route when the explosives detonated, delivering to the terrorists their well-deserved demise.
Seems some posters here, rather spread 'their' ideology rather than search for truth.
I don't mean to spread an ideology I'm just curious to how it's received. I don't mean to offend any one.
Jesse,
On May 2nd in the year 2007, you are posting a news article about an incident that took place in September of 1999. If that is not spreading an ideology, what is?
Then go back in time and post the first act that gave birth to terrorism in the Middle East, the bombing of the King David Hotel.
Thank you
Dear arthure, we will write your name and the afghan history as a honest westren friend what ever afghanistan had. still i am wondring that from where you get such exact information. we understand that you r realy in the hearth of oure socity.lets the enemy of afghan people tell you that is your propaganda but we know that you are the key of the truth. all those guys who you described as a allies of kabulies butcher,it is indeed, they all run away from afghanistan in to the west after that thiere brutal party was destroied by northren allince. after mony years of enjoying westren conviviality under humanitarian protaction for them selves and theire families,now they are with the smart dress, fresh mind, saving accounts, foreign passports, westren supports,fluent english and sharp knives in our head. they have twoo brothres, one is Nato and the other one is Taliban and theire old friend ISI.Dear Arthure!
afghasnistan need a second Massoud to send this guys back to housing benefit and child tax credit.where they come from after so many years.And that day would come soom!!!!!!!!!!thanks
mr ken thank you for truth written here. most peopl in kabul and afganistan know the truth and what you write is honest. khuram has made many mistakes and also sabet. i do not know wardak because he says not much in press and tv. khuram is hezb islami but he is not good because he is not good for democracy he wants to control media because some people who were hezb islami now change. khuram does not change he wants to destry media which is only thing left for democracy. sabet is crazy. he attaks tolo and he arrange protest using people of hezb islami. and khuram makes media commishion say that tolo should say sorry to sabet, but really sabet should say sorry to tolo. i am happy tolo dont say sorry.
Dear Kamran,
Don't take the particular instance too seriously besides it only makes terrorists look bad and no one truly wants them to look good. I would like for Afghans to succeed on their own terms just extracting the few "odd balls" if you get my drift.
Cheers
Thanks, everyone, for contributing to such a lively exchange of views. Regarding people who presume to hold high office, they must be judged by their accomplishments, as well as their reputations. The hardliners in Mr. Karzai's inner circle have drawn much criticism in Afghan society - mainly for the lack of tangible results they've brought the people they're supposed to be serving. If they truly wish respect and admiration, it's easy: get some positive results. That's all the Afghan people are asking for, but which they are so clearly being denied.
Thanks Arthur from your good and constructive articles, we really appreciate your hard work. Let me thank you on behalf of Afghans here in the South. We do not have any further hope from Karzia corrupt government after waiting almost five years for improvments....nothing is done to improve the governance and remove thoes they are invloved in looting. Recently, there are some news of changes in the cabinet of Karzia, reportedly, the defence minister, interior minister, chief of staff, the attorny genral and national security director are eithier going to be replaced or exchnaged as the informed sources reported. Karzia is going to bring fromer interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, the fomer foriegn minuister Dr. Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai to his cabinet..the current foriegn minister will also lose his job, as he is not welcomed by the president Karzia team. The main problem is that Karzia is leading Afghanistan without an strategic vision for the future, his reaction is based on the current situation. He is good to talk English fluently but not in action. He has no strong and good working team to work like a team and coordinate. Each minister has problem with other and they destroy thier colleagues performances to build up his career. Since Karzia sgtarted to lead Afghanistan, he put all the corrup warlords and druglords as governors of the country's provinces....the people don't like the governors, since they are not qualied to be governors and they are doing nothing and involved in the corruption, drug traffaficking and other bad activities. They have no strategies for good governance and to lead the locals honestly....to be very short and clear this government is the same like president Rabbani government which was only confined in Kabul and had no authority in the provinces. the reason of Taliban resurgance is not the people like them, but the weakness of the government and becuase lost thier hopes from this corrupt government..you see Karzia brought all fundimentalists to his government and praised them like Jabar Sabet, Farroq Wardak and KArim Khorum, all were and are members of Hekmatyar party and have the same vision to stop our freedom and stop life in Afghanistan.
We need a president, who is determied to lead us and his words have meanbing not like Karzia just talk and do not work....we need a person with good vision, who has a startegy to fight the terrorists on all angles and clean our socity from all thoese people they don't like freedom and don't want Afghans to have a good and possitive life...there are more to say. Thanks for
Thanks dear Arthur for your honest reporting. I wish we had more Western journalists like you, who could bring out the truth about Afghanistan rather than reflecting flattery to carry favour with incumbent authorities.
Zemarai from Kabul
It seems to me that the circle that Farook Wardak has employed and to follow the media and when found any article or report against them just create confusions by replying and writing things in contrast.
I think this technique is obsolete now and will not work any more, because every wise Afghan is familiar with such counter activities in Afghanistan.
I am pretty sure the article is 100% right, because I have continuously heard from several Afghans in Kabul the same things that is reflected by this article.
Reading this series of replies I found out that unless a group projects such a series and then send them from different places it may be difficult to have these replies in this manner, that one of them confirms the other.
One of the negative aspects of email is that you can't identify whether the name at the bottom of a letter is genuine name.
In reply number 3, some one who called himself Jesse seems that in his reply he is trying to take the attention readers of the article in different directions. (we call it "Jange Zargare"). Otherwise there is no place for such thing to be written.
I am quite sure that any wise person by reading the whole series of replies above would realize the fact that I am trying to state in here.
We have a saying that with two fingers we never can cover the light of sun.
Regards
Qahraman
Dear Arthur,
I am wondering why you are spreading the propaganda of one sectaries group who are pro-Russia and pro-Iran and working for damaging Afghanistan and it values.
They are northern alliance people who are getting advice from Russia and money from Iran and are the critical part of American-supported government and sabotaging each and every effort of peace and stability in Afghanistan from within and outside.
Sabet may have some shortcoming in his job, but it is prominent to all that he is the only person who struggle against three pronged mafia of corruption, drug and warlords,
Farooq Wardak is one of the most qualified and capable person in Afghanistan who can manage his duty exceptionally and it is admitted by Afghans and foreigners. Khuram is also a moderate person who has cut his relations with Hekmatya for 15 years.
Please don’t rely on one way communication and be very careful in the judgment of Afghanistan affairs. It is very complicated and very important to be cautious about.
Best regards,