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May 29, 2006

Riots in Kabul

I've been revising my PhD thesis over the past couple of days. Not long ago, I took a pessimistic view and wrote that one of the failures of Operation Enduring Freedom was that Karzai's government had little control outside of Kabul (and other areas with concentrations of ISAF troops). Surprisingly, it looks like things have since got much worse - with anti-American and anti-Karzai riots taking place inside Kabul itself. Karzai - seemingly left with limited options - appeared on live TV to ask Afghan civilians to "stand up against these agitators and not let them destroy our country again". People do not, as yet, appear to have done as he asked.

By the way, ISAF's website is a wonderful example of attempts to focus on the positive. Looking at it this evening, the 'headline' is still about a Kabul maternity clinic that will open next week - with no mention of the rioting/curfew in Kabul...

Posted by jon_mendel at May 29, 2006 10:29 PM