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Ali Arouzi / NBC News
NBC's Ali Arouzi chats with locals in the village of Charai Qamber, just outside Kabul, about the security situation in Afghanistan. Mohammad, left and pointing, expressed disdain over President Hamid Karzai's rule. Babur, right with scarf, bemoaned the lack of security in Afghanistan.
KABUL – Afghanistan seems as fragile as ever. There is a sense that with the U.S.-led NATO draw-down expected in 2014 the country could slip back into some of its darkest most socially-restrictive and violent days.
Most Afghans you speak to in Kabul or outside of the capital fear that their country will once again be overrun by the Taliban or be engulfed by a civil war. And most of their criticism is aimed at President Hamid Karzai, who seems to have little control over the country outside of Kabul. (Of course, NATO troops – especially American forces – face scathing criticism as well).
Almost every province that immediately surrounds Kabul is firmly in the hands of the Taliban: Logar, Wardak, Parwan, Kapisa, Laghman, and about 70 percent of Nangarhar are Taliban controlled, according to locals, and they all border Kabul.
I recently traveled to Charai Qamber, a small village just about five miles southeast of Kabul’s city limits, to speak with locals and find out what they think of the security situation.
I asked Mohammad, one of the village elders who would only give his first name, what he thought of Karzai’s control over the security situation in the country. Did he think he seemed more like the ‘Mayor of Kabul,’ rather than the president of Afghanistan? He roared with laughter and said, “Not even mayor!”
Life no better
Mohammad spoke about the president of his country with a tone of disdain. He said Karzai has done nothing for his village or for the country as a whole – instead, he had made a few cronies in Kabul rich.
While Mohammad said he did not like the Taliban, he thought his life was better before the U.S.-led invasion and Karzai’s rule. He also believed Karzai had only given the veneer of semi-stability in Kabul, but that it was beginning to show major cracks.
In the same village I spoke to a man named Babur, which means happiness, but he seemed far from it.
Ahmad Jamshid / AP
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
Babur, who also only gave his first name, had a litany of complaints. He bemoaned the fact that his village had never been visited by an Afghan or American government official – despite the fact that there was a U.S-funded military academy just a mile away from the village, which should have provided much needed jobs, but had not.
Nor did he have a sense of security, even though they were just a few miles away from Kabul where there are checkpoints everywhere and heavily armed security forces.
He also complained that his village did not have electricity or running water – villagers have to walk half a mile to a well near the academy. He spoke with contempt about America but seemed to be fond of Iran and Pakistan. Not a good sign for winning hearts and minds.
Taliban country
The village of Charai Qamber where I chatted with Mohammad and Babur is just about 10 miles away from the site of a horrific public execution, reportedly by the Taliban, of a woman accused of adultery in early July.
Video of the woman’s execution outraged Afghans and the world alike – particularly since it was so close to Kabul.
I saw one woman listening to my conversation with the men and I asked her about the woman’s murder in the nearby village.
Ali Arouzi / NBC News
Scud missile casings sit outside the village of Charai Qamber, Afghanistan. Locals couldn't say if they were from the U.S. or Soviets, but had sat there for years.
She would not give her name and only spoke to me reluctantly. She said that in Kabul it is tolerable for women to go outside. But she added that where she lives, women don’t stand a chance and are at the mercy of the Taliban.
We tried to travel to Parwan province – its borders are just about six miles outside of Kabul. But because it is controlled by the Taliban, we only reached the outskirts; the security team we were traveling with in Afghanistan felt it was too dangerous to venture much further.
Even on the edge of the province I got the feeling that we were being watched very closely. No one approached us to talk, which is unusual in Afghanistan, and we received unwelcoming looks.
Is a Taliban takeover inevitable?
Dr. Wadeer Safi, head of the political science department at Kabul University, said he has mixed feelings about the planned NATO draw down in 2014.
He does not believe that NATO would disappear into “thin air.” Nor did he think the country would break out into civil war or a coup d'état. Rather, he is confident NATO will leave a strong enough presence to deal with the security situation in the country and that it will be able to handle small battles with the Taliban.
However he did point out that politics is a fickle business and if the coalition did not leave a strong security presence, the Taliban could take control. He suggested that the army and police force could always just “hand themselves over” and join the Taliban.
I posed the same question to Safi about whether or not Karzai seemed more like the mayor of Kabul, rather than president.
“A mayor is better off than Karzai because he can leave the city. Karzai is a prisoner in his palace,” he said with a laugh.
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Leave a Comment:
I have wondered for years why the US State Dept has taken this guy a suitcase full of money every month for the last 10 years (I read a GAO account that put the figure at $30 million per). He and his 'extended family' are nothing but a bunch of cut-throat Persian drug lords. What did his 'influence' gain the US military? You'd think with that kind of jack he could have sniffed the wind and gotten out...........he was probably counting on some Halliburton Black Ops chopper that never showed up.......When they hack his head off on You TUbe and put it on a spike, will he realize the error of dealing with the devil (like Pappa Doc, the SHah, Noriega......and others, the list goes on)
Hamid Karzai has brought this upon himself. He is still taking US money to 'build democracy', but has continued to ignore (and maybe even support) the drug growers and smugglers in his country. He wants it both ways, but we know that is not possible in the long run. Karzai needs to decide if he is going to eradicate the Taliban AND the opium crops, or side with the Taliban against his own people and the Americans. In either case, he has very little time to make up his alleged mind and get things in motion to accomplish anything. Otherwise, he could end up like his brother (the drug lord who was assassinated by his own bodyguard).
Afghans are no different than most Americans. They will cry that nobody is doing anything for them. Welcome to democracy Middle East.
I'm a US Army Civil Affairs Officer currently stationed in Kabul. I've seen a lot of ignorant posts regarding Muslims, the situation here, and what the troops have and haven't done on the ground. First, regarding the Author, yep, he went to one of hundreds of villages surrounding Kabul. This province has 10 MILLION people in it and hundreds of villages. Most of them have never had running water or electricity. It's a slow process getting millions of people out of the middle ages, especially when your country has been decimated by war. But, there are construction projects going on everywhere in all directions. And most of the construction is not attached to US Tax payer's dollars. I've driven all over this region and met hundreds of people who hate the Taliban and love the Americans and our Allies. By the way, the Taliban who killed those women in the attack on the Qargha resort ALL died. Not by American forces, but the Afghan's own Army. They are well trained and the Taliban doesn't dare take them on. The Taliban leadership has already admitted defeat in this respect. Afghanistan now has the largest Army it has every had in its history and the Taliban have zero chance and they know it. And the author of this article, with his intonations that the government doesn't even control an area a few miles south of the City? Funny, I'm managing two projects right were he was at, one we're building a school for little Afghan girls that the villagers have praised us. The other one is an acre sized greenhouse to increase food production to feed these poor people. I drive down there all the time in a big vehicle that says American all over it and I get out and talk frequently with the locals. No one shooting at me. Not even a sideways glance. And the overall concensis - Nobody likes the Taliban. The Ministry of Agriculture is doing a fantastic job of setting up food storage facilites in the outlying provinces and they're in the process of building canneries to help these areas bring their food to market. We are helping them become financial and economically secure. As for you Muslim haters out there....you're ignorant. The majority of these people are the most pious, God loving people I've ever met. To all the Sunday Christians out there.....you don't hold a candle to the faith these people have in God, yeah....the same God, the God of Abraham, that you pray too, and no amount of scripture recitation will change this. God is part of their daily lives and its more than praying five times a day, as impressive as that is in of itself. These "dirty" Muslims read the Bible, and the Torah, and Mary, mother of Jesus, is the holiest Woman in the Koran. I've had some of the best religious discussions ever, right here, with Muslims. The most open minded people I've met regarding religion. There is a popular conservative belief that all Muslims are radicals trying to control the world and they want to convert you or kill you. Absolute ignorance. Read the Koran instead of some Conservative blurb on Facebook that's taken out of context. If all the Muslims were fanatical terrorist, you'd have a Billion terrorist, funny...pretty sure there aren't that many terrorists. And by the way, I'm one of the guys making sure your tax payer dollars, as designated by Congress, are being used correctly over here. Today, I just delivered a bunch of desks and chairs to kids at a school who previously sat on the floor of their school. There's 6000 kids going to school there in three shifts per day. I have found most of the schools are so overcrowded they run three shifts per day. Most classrooms have 80 to 100 students in them at a time. That's typical of most of the schools I've been too around Kabul. Yet, even in horrendous conditions by our standards, the Afghan people are determined to have their next generation educated. I see it everyday. I have been to other Countries were the kids just want candy. These kids all ask for the same thing. My pens. I have happily given out a thousand pens. We should be congratulating them on their herculean efforts in education. Educated Muslims are not in the Taliban. They fight the Taliban. We just finished a health clinic yesterday in an outlying area that will now provide medical services to people who never had them before. Afghan government ran and operated, we just helped with the building. We are either building or improving 15 schools in Kabul in addition to all the projects the Ministry of Education is trying to do around the country. Sure, I have to deal with some corrupt Afghan government officials and contractors, but compared to the millions thrown around by lobbiest in Washington, these guys are amatures. The only difference is that we legalized our corruption. The Afghans are within a few years of having a solid enough tax basis to self sustain their own government and its services. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. We are doing good work here. Wish the media took the time to show the good we do instead of dump garbage articles like this to feed the frenzy. If anybody has any issue with your tax dollars re-building a school for Deaf and Mute kids that was half destroyed in the war, yet, still full of kids going to school everyday who are learning how to sign and being trained in vocational skills - a school without power, or even a roof; or if you have an issue with providing a few buildings to the thousands of kids going to school everyday in Unicef tents in the summer heat and the freezing winter...let me know and I'll just cancel those projects at your request (seething with sarcasm). EVERY time we help with even the smallest project, the Afghan government gets credit and the people begin to have more faith in their government. I've talked to the people and I have seen it. Or, we can just give up, let the place fall to pieces and become a terrorist breeding ground like it was prior to 9/11. Have fun with that. I will continue to believe we are the greatest nation on earth because we can help a country such as this become so much more. My rant is complete.
Ever hear of paragraphs ?
We are wasting our time, its time to leave.
No point in doing nation building, when people dont want a nation.
Karzai a prisoner in his palace....Hardly - It has been reported in the news that Karzai and some of his "cronies" have places of residence in Qatar.......... Didn't one of his cronies as reported in the news get stopped and he had 52 Million U.S. Dollars in his possession, in cash?................ We in the United States, who are beyond the retirement age find it even more difficult to live, as we watch the comedy show in Afghanistan go on and on......
Yes, I do realize, that shortly there may be a deep hole where Tehran is located today, but the problem and reaction such as in Afghanistan is global.............. Humbly, wishing I were wiser; I wish the Best to all around the globe......... Whether Obama or Romney I hope wisdom can prevail....
Good Lord, please don't tell me it's taken this long for people to recognize and understand that Karzai has been nothing but a puppet and a now wealthy one at that. In the end the SOB will be seeking sancturary in the US with his millions skimmed off our hard earned dollars. He is a thug and has done nothing for Afghanistan or its people.
We have wasted millions of dollars and lives on this pos. When we pull out it's going to be worse than before we arrived.
The Taliban dominates through coercive and consensual controls which expresses their view of the world. No outside power will change any that until the Afghanistan people become conscious that fundamental changes and education are required. Only then can they fight it out and find their own security.
We need to leave them to their own means.
We have been there 10 + years and spent BILLIONS trying to train their own people to defend their own COUNTRY. What do they do in return they kill our people that are trying to help them help themselves.They complain and cry for us to leave, they burn our flag.
Now that we are going to do what they have been begging us to do, they are crying that the Taliban is going to get them.
Funny, they have been calling us the evil occupiers all this time and the very people we are trying to train to defend their freedom, are then turning the guns we have trained them to use, on US, almost daily.
Bring all of our young men and women home and let them fend for themselves.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
W.T.H.??? I've questioned his authority from the very beginning.
We can't change their culture, they will continue to kill each other when no American are still there to kill. they just need to fight somebody. freedom, democraty: they don't care about it!! what for?We have to get out, that all.
Do you know, people that this reporting could get you into hot water with general Betrays us? Remember, when the media came under the U.S. government control, they have to clear every thing with them first and this sorry picture of the real situation going on right now in Afghanistan doesn't jibe with what the powers to be said the situation is now.
Look what happened to Pvt Manning for trying to uphold the Cosntitution, he is facing life in prison at a maximum security for doing exactly what he is, was supposed to do: Report war crimes.
If I were you, people, I wouldn't sleep well, cause how can anybody sleep with one eye open and the other one shut? You can try, but is doesn't work. And why one eye opened and the other one shut, because the gestapo comes like death, you don't know the day nor the hour, so be prepared. Once they declared you a "terrorist" you had it. You will rot in jail and your family can't even know it. Signed, our "Christian and democratic" nation.
Republicans and Democrats two sides of the same hand, American citizens don't have control of America anymore it is now controlled by industrialized elitist that only care about profit not who lives or dies. The US goes on with it's own agenda and keeps it's people well divided and conquered. The USA is burning while the career politicians serve their special interest masters,it doesn't matter who gets in as long as big money decides both parties, I'm going to keep voting every incumbent out and for as many independents as I can. If everyone did that it wouldn't change the government in one election but it would sure shake them up to realize that if they do not start serving the people over big money contributions they will be finding temporary employment.The only thing that is going to save the country is putting the pressure on government to serve the people rather then self interests. The major problem is that we really don't hold all of our leaders accountable. We let them toss the hot potato of blame back and forth blaming each other. The truth is that they are all responsible for making excuses rather then solving problems while serving their own self interests then the country that they have sworn an oath to protect. We seem to have either totally incompetent people in power, totally corrupt people or both from what I can see of the direction that this world is heading.Unfortunately the rest of the country will keep putting the sold out traitors back in office until we become another third world country with only the rich overlords and the poor slave class .One election won't change much but if the people stand together and start voting these traitors out of office it will send them the message that we the people are mad as hell and not going to let them buy and sell our country anymore either way we as a people will get the government that we deserve.
Well ya no what? its hard to make any money when you factories arent running.. and they cant do the work alone. We could do like they do in Europe and start striking. Hit them where they will notice it the most...in their purses.
The politicians use the "divide and conquer" for sure.
One way to stop alot of the corruption is to put term limits on ALLLL politicians, get money out of politics and total transparency in campaigns. These life time politicians only stagnate our system with their antiquated laws and thinking. Make them get a real job like the rest of us..and when they leave office they dont get to keep their benefits...we dont get to keep ours when we change jobs. Oh and make it to where they have to wait at least 5 years after leaving office before they can become a lobbyist.
Its time to take our Ba!!s back people. These guys are supposed to be working for us.
Osama Bin Ladens entire purpose was to tie us up in war after war until we were in economic ruin. So who won the war on terrror?? You gutless chicken hawks that have to make this also a partisian thing, we can stay another 20 years and the result won't be any different than if we pulled out tomorrow and we should pull out tomorow.
Your right! He did say that.
To anyone who "THINKS" you can change a radical religous view with military power, get a brain. We cannot even get religions in this country to agree. This mess will do nothing but bankrupt this country. That is what the taliban has had in mind all along. Unless everyone in this country is willing to put some skin in the game we have already lost.Time to tuck our tails between our legs and pull out. After that we need to arrest ALL of our leaders public and military, and hold them accountable for what they have done to this country in the name of this fantasy they call democracy. We can't even agree on the type of government to use in America, why does anyone think others should listen to US.
The reason why repubs like wars is because its easy to skim money from your people during war because it is hard to determine where all the cash is going. What better way to rob your own people.
gee I wonder how many off shore accounts Bush and Cheney have? You can bet Cheney does.
Jonathan-1982062
Also no Paki liability should be permitted inside any non-Muslim nation, especially the US.It is time for the Paki Trojan horses in the US, UK and other places to get out at earliest and go to their beloved Pakistan.Get out from this cpmments post u paid Troll ( for poor Quality comments) , Your Govt India is the problem in Afghanistan, The day you out with ur smelly mouth & asses from Afghanistan , This country will be in peace, Listen to american army & genral resports , any how no body listen to ur craps,
Let leave US+ Pakistan to deal with this problem, Any how this was US+ Pakistan Relation & partnership who defeated Russians from 1979 to 19 88. ,
Ur India was a backstabbing cold war smelly junk yard( u should be thankful to US out sourcing cheap jobs to country like you.??? what???
US should provide arms to everyone in Afghanistan so they can protect themselves after the military leaves. This would likely scare the Taliban more than anything else we could do.
Karzai, another F****** clown.
Jeff S-487230 said it all.
So basically we have been sending boatloads of cash to Karzi and his few buds and the rest of the country hasnt got any of it. We have been making this arssho!e rich while our guys die. Why are we even there? The place is an armpit! We need to leave now and someone please track down Bush and Dickey boy and find out WHAT the He!! they were thinkin? I bet they were giving themselves alittle of that cash. Why wait til 2014..we arent doing anything there..its time to come home. Nothing has changed there and it never will. These people have no interest in living any different then they are now..if they did they would be trying alittle harder to get rid of these corrupt guys.