Will Afghanistan be Abandoned yet Again?, Matthew Riemer, YellowTimes.org
Afghanistan's liberation from the Taliban is only one victory on a list of many that the country will need to achieve if it is to prosper. This weighty reality falls upon Afghanistan's new interim president, Hamid Karzai, and the leader has been emphatic about his devotion to creating a brighter future for the country. But Matthew Riemer in YellowTimes.org says of Karzai's election that 'though the very process itself is promising for the country, many feel that this exercise in symbolic democracy will largely be just that: symbolic.' So far, Riemer feels hesitant to put his faith in Karzai, claimng that the leader may 'have things backwards' by focusing on stabilizing the country before creating a reconciliation process for a nation hungry for justice. 'He can pontificate and dole out meaningless rhetoric per usual or he can courageously attempt to genuinely lead his people down a new path,' Reimer says. 'He can be the head of yet another puppet regime in a long list of U.S. lackeys or he can challenge the U.S., the U.N., and the international community at large.'
--Julie Madsen
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