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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group
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To: dvdw© who wrote (11461)11/24/2001 9:53:31 PM
From: Hawkmoon  Read Replies (2) of 281500
 
It's a bottom up society, where gangs linked by ethnicity carve out for themselves spaces within the geography of Afganistan.

Yep... dvdw.. pretty much sums it up. Tribal "mafias", who's sense of ethical or legal obligation generally extend only to their own tribes, and not a greater legal framework.

That's going to be the real challenge here in getting these tribal warlords to realize their greatest self-interest is in sacrificing a portion of their authority and power to a centralized governmental institution, and then ABIDING BY IT. They need to recognize a greater law than their own use of force and greed for wealth and power.

Unfortunately, since power in Afghanistan currently comes from the barrel of a T-55 and AK-47, it will be incredibly difficult to convince these guys to trust each other enough to put down the weapons. And even then, some elements have NO INTEREST in giving up their arms.

Thus, I don't hold out much hope for a post-war Afghanistan, until they give up the idea that everyone has the right to pursue their own quest for honor or revenge, over the interest of the greater society as a whole.

And since this is a society that has known nothing but war for 23 years, it's like trying to civilize barbarians hordes.

Hawk
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