It was during the Taliban rule. Well.....kinda sorta........but was better then the US puppets.
Btw, I hear Karzai wont run in the elections.
Karzai May Not Seek Reelection
In a Country Still Gripped by Turmoil, Karzai Seen as Stabilizing Factor
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 3 -- President Hamid Karzai said today he is "very, very strongly" committed to holding national elections next year to select a new government, but that he may well not run in them for a full term as elected president.
The prospect of organizing a national election in Afghanistan next year -- although required under the Bonn agreement that established the current transition government -- is a daunting one in a country still fighting Islamic extremists and with powerful militia leaders still controlling many of the provinces. Almost 15,000 American and international soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan to hunt terrorists, Taliban remnants and keep the peace.
But equally daunting is the possibility that Karzai could leave the political scene, since he has been widely viewed as a stabilizing force in Afghanistan and a man with whom the United States and other foreign governments can work well in efforts to rebuild the country and restore security.
"There may be a real possibility that I will not run," Karzai said during an interview. "I don't want this country to develop personality cults or icons, I don't like that. . . . I'm looking for quality time [in office], not quantity time."
After Karzai cooperated with the CIA in fomenting opposition to the Taliban, the United States influenced Afghan exiles to get him chosen as a provisional administration chief soon after the Taliban fell in late 2001. U.S. envoys then played a major behind-the-scenes role in having Afghan leaders to select him to stay on as head of the transitional government that was set up in 2002.
With his smooth English and calm ways, Karzai has been warmly embraced by President Bush and other leaders worldwide ever since. He has also been a generally unifying force inside Afghanistan, something that is not true of many of the possible alternatives, and so his departure would be a blow to American policy makers.
Western diplomats in Kabul said they have heard Karzai say in recent weeks that he may not run for election and that he may want his legacy to be guiding Afghanistan from post-Taliban chaos to a situation stable enough for general elections. Karzai, 45, said in the interview that, while he has not finally decided, he is eager to see other candidates come forward.
"I want leaderships in Afghanistan, a multiplicity of leaderships," he said. "I want the Afghan people to have choices. I don't want them to be stuck with one man . . . because of a lack of choice."
Among those who have said they plan to run for president is Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Jamiat-i-Islami party. Rabbani was president during the mid-1990s, when factions of the mujahideen fought constantly for power and destroyed half of Kabul in the process. Rabbani is a Tajik and his leadership was contested by many Pashtuns, who are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, the base of the Taliban and the traditional rulers of the country.
Several men associated with the former king have also explored the possibility of forming political parties and running for president, as has former Interior Minister Yonus Qanooni, who is now education minister.
Karzai left open the possibility that he would run and said that, if he did, he would want to be judged on whether he and his government have delivered security and reconstruction to Afghans.
"We must produce and put before the Afghan people the evidence that we have worked," Karzai said "If there is such an evidence and then, if they come and say well, Hamid, we think you are a good man and we trust you, and will you continue? If I'm not tired and if want to do it and don't see a clear alternative that somebody else can do it. . . .," he said, without finishing the sentence.
The question of a political leadership in Afghanistan without Karzai came up dramatically last September when a gunman tried to assassinate him in the southeast city of Kandahar. That incident highlighted the absence of a succession plan. Subsequent efforts to come up with one have failed. The State Department has been concerned about this issue and has encouraged the Afghan government to work out a plan.
Karzai acknowledged that succession in the event that something happened to him is unresolved and that the national grand assembly, or Loya Jirga, last year had been unable to come up with a solution. He said among the possibilities was that former King Zahir Shah would oversee a transition or that Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Fazl Hadi Shinwari would do it. But the former king is 87 and in relatively poor health, and Shinwari is a consistent Islamic conservative who has caused controversy by banning cable television, suggesting that co-ed education is a bad idea and advocating Islamic law for Afghanistan.
Further complicating the question of succession is the fact that there are four vice presidents now, and one of them is the self-appointed first vice president. Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim claimed that title, although it was not officially granted to him, and he often takes over the duties of the president when Karzai is out of the country.
The absence of a succession plan makes the job of protecting Karzai even more important, and heavily-armed American and Afghan guards now surround his residence in the Gul Khanna, or House of Flowers, and the entire Arg Palace complex in the center of Kabul.
The Karzai government was established under the Bonn Agreement in late 2001, and his term was extended to mid-2004 during a Loya Jirga last summer. The country is scheduled to hold another Loya Jirga this year to write a new constitution, and elections are supposed to follow by mid 2004.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by RIFAK: *
I do not see situation of Afghanistan improving EVER ...
[/QUOTE]