While not wearing a white cowboy hat or (visibly) packing six-shooters, newly-elected President Hamid Karzai promised to lay down the law to bring stability to the fledgling Afghan democracy.
Making his acceptance speech a day in the capital Kabul, Karzai said his pre-election vow to eliminate private militias had clearly won the support of the people. He announced, “This will be a government based on the constitution of Afghanistan and in respect of the constitution of Afghanistan. A government that will work for the strengthening of the Afghan National Army, the police and other institutions of the state, There will not any private militias forces in Afghanistan. That’s the first demand of the Afghan people. There will definitely, definitely not going to be any drug thing in Afghanistan.”
While needed, changing the warlord-druglord culture will be a herculean challenge. The only true hope for a long-term supplanting of the territorial militias lies in building a capable, professional military with a greater loyalty to national success than to regional or religious goals. Elimination of the opium fields will require constant vigilance and especially the installment of a viable economic alternative for the Afghan people. This will be troublesome in a nation not blessed with great natural resources and will require much foreign assistance.
Karzai is a courageous man with great dreams for his country and his countrymen. Our continued support should never become an issue.