Word: afghanistanism
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Regardless of the result, then, the post-election challenge facing the U.S. and its allies will be to use the leverage offered by the fact that Afghanistan's central government remains almost entirely dependent on Western troops and financial assistance to create effective local and provincial government, and strengthen the ministries of the central government, fighting corruption and delivering the services that Afghans desperately need. The outcome of the election will simply signal just how difficult meeting that challenge will...
...streets of Kabul were eerily quiet on Thursday, as polls for Afghanistan's second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban opened to little fanfare and even smaller crowds. Children, taking advantage of the trafficless streets, flew kites. Watermelon sellers languished in the shade of their carts waiting for a sale. The only customers were police, who were stationed at every intersection to inspect the few vehicles that passed their way. Kabul residents had been spooked by Wednesday's curious lack of violence and were apprehensive that the Taliban had planned something big for voting day. They were right...
...view of the city. "This time there is no one," he says. But he doesn't blame the low turnout on insecurity alone. "Over the past seven years, people have become disappointed with democracy. They don't see that it has made their lives any better." (See pictures of Afghanistan's dangerous Korengal Valley...
...Materials had arrived late, and an hour after the polls were supposed to open, volunteers were still struggling to fasten shut the white plastic ballot boxes. Zahir, a 29-year-old employee at the Ministry of Finance, fumes as he stands in line. "Today everyone in Afghanistan wants to select their favorite candidates, but unfortunately they are not optimistic," he says. "Look at this place: it's chaos. Yet we are in central Kabul - what hope do we have for the rural provinces...
...intimidation on the roads forced the provincial government to close all polling stations. As a last resort, soldiers from the Afghan army started going door to door with ballots, a practice that could easily be mistaken as a coercive tactic in favor of the current government. International and independent Afghanistan observers worry that the lack of voters could open the way to fraud: corrupt officials might use the names and registration numbers of voters who didn't turn up with little fear of being caught. And with such a low turnout, even clean-winning candidates are unlikely to have...