Afghan future threatened by ex-warlords in gov't

[unhappycamper]

Afghan future threatened by ex-warlords in gov't
By TODD PITMAN
Associated Press Writer
Nov 11, 7:11 PM EST

KABUL (AP) -- Warlords helped drive the Russians from Afghanistan, then shelled Kabul into ruins in a bloody civil war after the Soviets left. Now they are back in positions of power, in part because the U.S. relied on them in 2001 to help oust the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks.

President Hamid Karzai later reached out to them to shore up his own power base as America turned its attention to Iraq after the Taliban's rout.

With the Taliban resurging, the entrenched power of the warlords is complicating Karzai's promises to rid his new government of corruption and cronies, steps seen as critical to building support among Afghans against the insurgents.

"You can't build a new political system with old politicians accused of war crimes," said lawmaker Ramazan Bashardost, who finished third in the country's fraud-marred August election. "You can't have peace with warlords in control."

Two of Karzai's vice presidents - Mohammed Qasim Fahim and Karim Khalili - are ex-warlords. His outgoing military adviser, Abdul Rashid Dostum, has been accused of overseeing the suffocation deaths of up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners during the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.


Rest of article at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AFGHANISTAN_THE_WARLORDS?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-11-19-11-04



unhappycamper comment: "You can't build a new political system with old politicians accused of war crimes".... How true.

[annabanana]

1. What's an "ex" warlord?

I maintain that there's no such thing.

[maglatinavi]

2. anna

I was wondering the same thing ... is that a name for tribe lords??? If we went to Afghanistan to "smoke" (the Shrub's word) Bin Laden and didn't because of the war in Iraq...and ... helped the escape of said Bin Laden, then we shouldn't be spending our troops there ... We cannot fix the world, and much less a place like Afghanistan ... it is sad to say ... but does anyone think that we are going to staighten up that country, if yo do you also believe that cows fly over the moon ... enogh, lets get our troops home!:kick: :kick: :kick: :mad: :mad: :mad: