Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-04T08:20:21.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Afghanistan: Imperatives of Stability Misperceived

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Shayeq Qassem*
Affiliation:
Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies Australian National University

Abstract

More than seven years have passed since the intervention of the international community in Afghanistan, yet the country has not only failed to achieve stability; it has actually experienced a downward trend on that account. The worsening situation in Afghanistan has occurred despite the fact that the Afghan government and its international partners have allocated unprecedented amounts of resources, increased their security forces and implemented socio-political and economic programs that they deemed were conducive to stability. Why and how this failure did come about? This article challenges some of the underlying assumptions for stability and the notion of political reconstruction that the international community and the Afghan government have implemented so far as being largely responsible for the gloomy state of affairs in that country.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 See, for example, “The Situation in Afghanistan and its Implications for International Peace and Stability,” United Nations Report No. A/62/722-S/2008/159, March 2008. Also see “Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan (2001–2007),” United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, September 2007.

2 See, for example, Lieven, Anatol, “Afghanistan: An Unsuitable Candidate for State Building,” Conflict, Security and Development, 7, no. 3 (October 2007): 483489CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 “Afghanistan: The Problem of Pashtun Alienation,” International Crisis Group, Asia Report No. 62, 5 August 2003.

4 See, for example, Patricia, Gossman, “Afghanistan: A Government of Warlords Threatens Kabul,” International Herald Tribune, 16 October 2003;Google Scholar Campbell, Duncan, “Afghan Warlords ‘Bigger Threat Than Taliban’,” Guardian Unlimited (UK), 13 July 2004;Google Scholar Rubin, Barnett, “The Warlords’ Threat: Afghanistan's Vote Could Trigger Mayhem,” International Herald Tribune, 4 August 2004;Google Scholar Schriek, Daan van der, “Warlords Threaten to Wreck Democratization Process in Afghanistan,” Eurasianet, 10 May 2004Google Scholar.

5 See, for example, Sand, Benjamin, “Afghanistan Blames Taleban, Drug Traffickers for Deadly Violence,” Voice of America, 5 February 2006Google Scholar.

6 See, for example, “Karzai Says U.S. Underfunding Afghanistan,” MSNBC and NBC News (US), 24 September 2006.

7 See, for example, “Karzai Blames Pakistan over Taliban Attacks,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News, 19 May 2006.

8 See, for example, Gannon, Kathy, “Taliban Comeback Traced to Corruption,” Washington Post, 24 November 2006Google Scholar.

9 Radnitz, Scott, “Working with the Warlords: Designing an Ethnofederal System for Afghanistan,” Regional and Federal Studies, 14, no. 4 (January 2004): 513514CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Fukuyama, Francis, Nation Building, Beyond Afghanistan and Iraq (Baltimore, MD, 2006), 5Google Scholar.

11 For examples of views by Pushtun intellectuals concerned about the notion of reduced Pushtun power see Jalali, Ali Ahmad, “Afghanistan in 2002: The Struggle to Win the Peace,” Asian Survey, 43, no. 1 (January–February 2002): 174185CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Also see Ahady, Anwar-ul-Haq, “The Decline of the Pashtuns [sic] in Afghanistan,” Asian Survey, 35, no. 7 (July 1995): 621634CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 See, for example, Dar Bara-e Federalism, Bakhsh-e Amozesh wa Farhang-e Hezb-e Kangara-e Milli Afghanistan [Regarding Federalism, Educational Section of the National Congress Party of Afghanistan] (Kabul, 1383 Solar Hejra Calendar), no. 1. Also see Kangara Monthly, Organ-e Nesharati Hezb-e Kangara-e Milli Afghanistan [Official Gazette of the National Congress Party of Afghanistan], no. 1, 5 July 2005.

13 Two main political coalitions, namely the Shura-e Mottahed-e Melli and the Jabha-e Melli which are dominated by, but not necessarily limited to, the non-Pushtun forces, have called for a revamping of the strong centralized political system by proposing a replacement of the Presidential with a Parliamentary system and changing of the laws to make the provincial Governors elected officials rather than direct appointees of the President. See “Mokhalefat Ba Mosharekat-e Moqamat-e Afghanistan Dar Jabha-e Melli ” [Opposition against Participation of High-Ranking Afghan Officials in the Jabha-e Melli], BBC Persian, 9 April 2007. Also see “Shekast-e Eqtesad-e Bazar” [The Defeat of Market Economy], Payam-e-Mojahid Weekly, no. 544, 20 September 2007.

14 See, for example, the US Secretary of State, Colin Powel's statement in the US House of Representatives on 24 October 2001. “Afghan Future, Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” PBS TV (US), 25 October 2001; Clark, Kate, “No Ordinary Homecoming,” BBC News, 17 April 2002Google Scholar.

15 See, for example, Profile: Ex-King Zahir Shah,” BBC News, 1 October 2001Google Scholar.

16 Kakar, M. H., The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982 (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1995CrossRefGoogle Scholar).

17 Flaten, Robert A., “Afghan Politics—The Creeping Crisis,” United States Government Memorandum, 31 May 1972, Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Vol. E-7, South Asia, 1969–1972, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/e7txt/47064.htm, accessed 31 March 2007Google Scholar.

18 Shahrani, Nazif, “Afghanistan: State and Society in Retrospect,” in The Cultural Basis of Afghan Nationalism, ed. by Anderson, Ewan and Dupree, Nancy Hatch (London and New York, 1990), 47Google Scholar. Also see Saikal, Amin, Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival (London and New York, 2004), 168Google Scholar.

19 Saikal, Amin, “Conflicts, Wars and the Prospects for Peace in the Middle East,” in United Nations—Leadership, Democracy and Reconciliation (Amman, Jordan, United Nations University, April 2006), 6270Google Scholar.

20 Maley, William, Rescuing Afghanistan (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press Ltd, 2006), 52Google Scholar.

21 Duff, Ernest A. and McCamant, John F., “Measuring Social and Political Requirements for System Stability in Latin America,” The American Political Science Review, 62, no. 4 (December 1968): 1125CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Dessauer, Frederick, Stability (New York, 1949), 137Google Scholar.

23 For more on a discussion of “political decay” as a consequence of incompatible social mobilization and institutional development, see Huntington, Samuel P., Political Order in Changing Societies (New Haven, CT, 1968)Google Scholar.

24 Lijphart, Arend, The Politics of Accommodation: Pluralism and Democracy in the Netherlands (Berkeley, CA, 1968), 7177CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 See Traynor, Ian and Younge, Gary, “Secret Memo Reveals US Plan to Overthrow Taliban Regime,” Guardian Unlimited, 21 September 2001Google Scholar. Also see “US Is Urging Afghans To Rise Up,” CNN World, 26 September 2001.

26 See for example Baker, Mark, “It's Not as Easy as It Looks, US Finds,” The Age (Melbourne), 27 October 2001Google Scholar.

27 Chandrasekaran, Rajiv and Pomfret, John, “Tribal Allies Delay Fighting,” Washington Post, 1 December 2001Google Scholar.

28 Afghanistan: Presidential Election, 9 October 2004, European Union Democracy and Election Support Mission, Final Report, p. 27.

29 Afghanistan: The Constitutional Loya Jerga,” International Crisis Group, Asia Briefing No. 29, 12 December 2003Google Scholar.

30 Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 46.

31 Dessauer, Stability, 150–171.

32 Saikal, Amin, “Afghanistan's Weak State and Strong Society,” in Making States Work: State Failure and the Crisis of Governance, ed. by Chesterman, Simon, Igrnatieff, Michael and Thakur, Ramesh (Tokyo, New York, and Paris, 2005), 193209Google Scholar.

33 Linz, Juan, “The Perils of Presidentialism,” Journal of Democracy, 1, no. 1 (1990): 5169Google Scholar.

34 It should be noted that although the notion of Pushtuns forming the biggest ethnic minority in Afghanistan has been accepted by most Western scholars almost unquestioningly, it is far from acceptable to non-Pushtun Afghan scholars. Rawan Farhadi, a prominent Afghan scholar, former Deputy Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the UN, believes that the Pushtuns and the Tajiks each account for 30 percent of the total population. Farhadi, Rawan, “Islam and the War of Liberation in Afghanistan,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, no. 5 (2000)Google Scholar.

35 Radnitz, “Working With The Warlords,” 533.

36 See, for example, Ingalls, Jim, “The New Afghan Constitution: A Step Backwards for Democracy,” Foreign Policy in Focus, 10 March 2004Google Scholar.

37 Marlowe, Ann, “Life of the Parties,” Wall Street Journal, 30 January 2007Google Scholar. Also see “Afghanistan Elections: Endgame or New Beginning?,” International Crisis Group, Asia Report No. 101, 21 July 2005.

38 Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 49.

39 Isby, David C., “Pushtun Politics and Violence in Afghanistan,” The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor, 2, no. 15, 29 July 2004: 8Google Scholar.

40 Human Rights Watch Report on Afghanistan, 2007; Amnesty International Report on Afghanistan, 2007.

41 See, for example, Richard, Rupp, “High Hopes and Limited Prospects: Washington's Security and Nation-Building Aims in Afghanistan,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 19, no. 2 (June 2006): 285298Google Scholar. Also see Marten, Kimberly, “Warlordism in Comparative Perspective,” International Security, 31, no. 3 (Winter 2006/07): 4173CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

42 Fereshta Hazrati's exclusive interview with Younus Qanooni, Radio Women Message, Gutenberg, Sweden, 15 November 2005, http://www.khawaran.com, accessed 25 January 2007. The interview was conducted in Persian. The English translation is by the author.

43 See, for example, Giustozzi, Antonio, “The Debate on Warlordism: The Importance of Military Legitimacy,” Crisis States Research Centre, Discussion Paper No. 13, London, 2005Google Scholar.

44 Jackson, Paul, “Warlords as Alternative Forms of Governance,” Small Wars and Insurgencies, 14, no. 2 (January 2003): 131150;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Robinson, T. P., “Twenty-First Century Warlords: Diagnosis and Treatment?,” Defence Studies, 1, no. 1 (January 2001): 121145;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Nourzhanov, Kirill, “Saviours of the Nation or Robber Barons? Warlord politics in Tajikistan,” Central Asian Survey, 24, no. 2 (June 2005): 109130CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45 Jackson, “Warlords as Alternative Forms of Governance,” 134.

46 Jackson, “Warlords as Alternative Forms of Governance,” 134. Also see Robinson, “Twenty-First Century Warlords,” 121.

47 Marten, “Warlordism in Comparative Perspective,” 56.

48 Robinson, “Twenty-First Century Warlords,” 127.

49 Nourzhanov, “Saviours of the Nation or Robber Barons,” 110.

50 Robinson, “Twenty-First Century Warlords,” 126.

51 Giustozzi, “The Debate on Warlordism,” 6–10.

52 Interview with Ahmed Rashid by Mark Davis, Dateline, SBS TV (Australia), 6 October 2004.

53 Richburg, Keith B., “Karzai Vows to Crack Down on Warlords, Drug Dealers,” Washington Post, 5 November 2004Google Scholar.

54Goftogoy-e Ekhtesasee BBC Ba Karzai ” [BBC exclusive interview with Karzai], BBC Persian, 7 May 2004, http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/afghanistan/story/2004/05/040507_v-karzaiinterview.shtml, accessed 27 December 2006. Also see Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 23.

55 Bhadrakumar, M. K., “Afghanistan: Qanooni's Moment of Triumph,” The Hindu (India), 20 January 2006;Google Scholar Gizabi, Akram, “Former Resistance Leader to Lead Afghanistan's New Parliament,” The Jamestown Foundation, no. 3, 5 January 2006;Google Scholar Witte, Griff, “Afghan Assembly Picks Opponent of President as Speaker,” Washington Post, 22 December 2005Google Scholar. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly accused Sayyaf of being one of the worst human rights perpetrators in Afghanistan. See Human Rights Watch World Report 2007Afghanistan.

56 Giustozzi, Antonio and Ullah, Noor, “Tribes and Warlord in Southern Afghanistan, 1980–2005,” Crisis States Research Centre, Working Paper No. 7, September 2006, 1216Google Scholar. Also see Stockman, Farah, “Others Languished as Warlord Rose, As Ex-Warlord Advanced, Others Languished,” The Boston Globe, 28 April 2007Google Scholar.

57 Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 23.

58 See “Afghanistan Resorts to Militias to Fight The Insurgency,” International Herald Tribune, 25 November 2006. Also see Benjamin Sand, “Afghan Government Recruiting Thousands of Auxiliary Police to Battle Insurgents,” Voice of America, 10 January 2007.

59 Morarjee, Rachel, “Karzai Taps Tribal Fighters as Police,” The Christian Science Monitor, 13 June 2006Google Scholar. Also see Constable, Pamela, “Tensions Overshadow Gains in Afghanistan,” Washington Post, 16 September 2006Google Scholar.

60 Barker, Kim, “Plan to Form Armed Militias in Afghanistan Sparks Outrage, Fear,” Chicago Tribune, 24 June 2006Google Scholar.

61 Coghlan, Tom, “Villagers Forced out by ‘Taliban Nomads’,” Telegraph (UK), 9 July 2007;Google Scholar “Fighting for Land and Water,” The Economist, 26 July 2007.

62Ehali Behsood-e Welayat-e Maidan-Wardak Khwahan-e Qatt-e Worood-e Kushi Ha Baray-e Dayem Dar Aeen Manteqa Shudand ” [The People of Behsood District of The Maidan-Wardak Province Demand that the Kuchis Should Never be Allowed to Enter the Area Again], Afghan Voice Agency, 28 July 2007, http://www.avapress.com/news/detail.asp?id=5395, accessed 26 September 2007.

63 Nazarov, Haqnazar Nazarovich, Moqam-e Tajikan Dar Tareekh-e Afghanistan [Vol. 2 in Persian], (Tehran, 1380 Solar Hejra Calendar), 402474Google Scholar. Also see Ghubar, Ghulam Mohammad, Afghanistan Dar Maseer-i Tareekh [Vol. 2 in Persian] (Virginia, US, 1999)Google Scholar.

64 See “Afghanistan's Endangered Compact,” International Crisis Group, Asia Briefing No. 59, 29 January 2007.

65 Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 18–20.

66 Mackinlay, John, “Defining Warlords”, in Cilliers, Jakkie and Norberg, Annika Hilding (ed.), Building Stability in Africa: Challenges for the New Millennium, Monograph No. 46 (February 2000), Institute for Security Studies, http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/Monographs/No46/Defining.html, accessed 31 March 2007Google Scholar; Kimberly Marten, “Warlordism in Comparative Perspective”, pp. 41–73. Also see T. P. Robinson, “Twenty-First Century Warlords”, pp. 121–145.

67 Dubnov, Arkady, “Afghanistan under Lease,” Russia in Global Affairs, no. 3 (July–September 2004)Google Scholar.

68 Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 40; Soroosh, Wasi, “Etesab-e Sarafan-e Herat Dar Eteraz ba Na Amni” [Herat Money Dealers Go on Strike Due to Insecurity], BBC Persian, 15 September 2007Google Scholar.

69 “Tazahorat Alaihe Wali-e Jawzjan” [Demonstrations Against the Governor of Jawzjan], BBC Persian, 16 November 2006; “Mardom-e Baghlan, Wali Boodane Joma Khan Tawheen Ba Mardom Ast” [The People of Baghlan, The Governorship of Joma Hamdard is an Insult to the People], Rozgaran Weekly, no. 63, 19 August 2005, http://www.geocities.com/rozgaran2/no63/index.htm, accessed 01 April 2007.

70 “Tazahorat Alaihe Wali-e Jawzjan” BBC Persian, 16 November 2006.

71 Wafa, Abdul Waheed and Gall, Carlotta, “Rise in Violence in North Shows Afghanistan's Fragility,” The New York Times, 29 May 2007Google Scholar.

72 Afghanistan: Presidential Election, 9 October 2004, European Union Democracy and Election Support Mission, Final Report, p. 27.

73 Rahmani, Waliullah, “Domestic Factors Driving the Taliban Insurgency,” The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor, 4, no. 13, 29 June 2006Google Scholar. Also see Arkady Dubnov, “Afghanistan Under Lease”; Chayes, Sarah, “A Mullah Dies, and War Comes Knocking,” Washington Post, 18 November 2007Google Scholar.

74Sag-shoy” (dog-washer) and “peshak-shoy” (cat-washer) are two derogatory Persian/Dari terms used in post-Taliban Afghanistan to denote the menial nature of employment some of the expatriate Afghans allegedly received in exile.

75 Zaman, Wesal, “Crash Spurs Deadly Kabul Riots,” Toronto Star, 30 May 2006Google Scholar.

76 Jennings, John, “Afghanistan: The Gulf Between Report and Reality,” The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, 6, no. 1, January 2004Google Scholar.

77 Jennings, “Afghanistan.”

78 Campbell, Duncan, “Afghan Warlords Bigger Threat than Taliban,” Guardian Unlimited, 13 July 2005Google Scholar.

79 Horden, Nick, “Why Afghanistan Could Be Ungovernable,” Australian Financial Review, 13 October 2001Google Scholar. Also see Saikal, Amin, “After The Taliban, What Next For Afghanistan?,” Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Octorber 2001Google Scholar.

80 “Royalists Get Top Job, Alliance To Keep Peace,” The Australian, 4 December 2001. Also see Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 33–34.

81 The author is in possession of a copy of the list with handwritten letters marked in front of each name to denote their ethnicity.

82 For details see Simonsen, Sven Gunnar, “Ethnicising Afghanistan? Inclusion and Exclusion in Post-Bonn Institution Building,” Third World Quarterly, 25, no. 4 (2004): 707729CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

83 “Afghanistan: The Problem of Pashtun Alienation,” International Crisis Group, Asia Report No. 62, 5 August 2003.

84 Isby, “Pushtun Politics and Violence in Afghanistan,” 7–8.

85 See http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2002/guest.html, accessed 9 January 2007; “Afghanistan's Power Brokers, Abdullah Abdullah (Tajik),” BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror/after_the_taleban/a_abdullah.stm, accessed 9 January 2007. http://www.foxnews.com/projects/photo_essay/afghan_gov/4.htm, accessed 9 January 2007.

86 Interview with Dr Abdullah by Hussaini Madani, “Dr. Abdullah: Heech Bahs-e Ke Ba Raees-e Jamhoor Ba Nateeja Raseeda Basham Soorat Nagerefta Ast” [No Discussion in Which I would have Reached an Understanding with the President Has Taken Place], Payam-e-Mojahid Weekly, no. 543, 14 September 2007.

87 “Members of Afghanistan's Interim Administration,” Houston Chronicle, 26 December 2001, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/side/1182429.html, accessed 9 January 2007. Also see “Filling the Vacuum: The Bonn Conference,” Frontline, PBS TV (US), http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/campaign/withus/cbonn.html, accessed 9 January 2007.

88 See, for example, Taliban Leader Warns of Carnage,” CNN World, 22 October 2006CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

89 Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 33.

90 Khan, Ismail and Gall, Carlotta, “Taliban Leader Breaks Five Years Silence,” Sydney Morning Herald, 6 January 2007Google Scholar.

91 Gal, Carlotta and Wafa, Abdul Waheed, “Taliban Truce in District of Afghanistan Sets Off Debate,” New York Times, 2 December 2006Google Scholar.

92 See, for example, Norell, Magnus, “The Taliban and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA),” China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, 5, no. 3 (2007): 62Google Scholar.

93 Maley, Rescuing Afghanistan, 33.

94 Afghanistan Opium Survey 2002, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

95 Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007, UNODC

96 Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007, 5.

97 Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007, iv.

98 In a recent study, Kreutzmann has argued that external actors other than farmers are the driving forces behind the record productions of narcotics in Afghanistan. The UNODC's 2007 report, although mindful of the role of external forces, does not offer a clean bill of health to the farmers either. Kreutzmann, Hermann, “Afghanistan and the Opium World Market: Poppy Production and Trade,” Iranian Studies, 40, no. 5 (December 2007): 605621CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

99 Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007, UNODC, iv.

100 Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007, vi.

101 For details see Morarjee, Rachel, “Doubts over Afghan Poppy Fight,” Financial Times (UK), 26 April 2007Google Scholar. Also see “Corruption linked to Afghan Drug Trade,” United Press International, 27 April 2007.

102 “Harvest in Helmand,” Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 12 April 2007, http://iwpr.net/?p=arr&s=f&o=334828&apc_state=henparr, accessed 29 April 2007.

103 Morarjee, Rachel, “Cash Fails to Reach Afghan Drug Farmers,” Financial Times (UK), 29 May 2007Google Scholar.

104 Gall, Carlotta, “Afghan Poppy Growing Reaches Record Level, U.N. Says,” The New York Times, 19 November 2004;Google Scholar “Afghan Government Condemns Accusations In US Paper,” BBC Monitoring Service, 26 November 2004; “Afghan Government Statement Strongly Denies NY Article On Drug Involvement,” BBC Monitoring Service, 23 November 2004; “Afghan Daily Reacts Strongly To Report in US Paper,” BBC Monitoring Service, 26 November 2004.

105 Pennington, Matthew, “Afghan Official A Convicted Trafficker,” Associated Press, 8 March 2007Google Scholar. Also see “Afghan Anticorruption Chief Sold Heroin in Las Vegas in ’87,” New York Times, 10 March 2007.

106 Walsh, Declan, “How Anti-Corruption Chief Once Sold Heroin In Las Vegas,” Guardian Unlimited, 28 August 2007Google Scholar.

107 Albone, Tim and Billet, Claire, “Ruined Poppy Farmers Join Ranks with the Taleban,” The Times (London), 27 February 2007;Google Scholar Bays, James, “Afghan Poppy War Alienates Farmers,” Aljazeera TV, 19 February 2007Google Scholar.

108 Leithead, Alastair, “Nato Criticised For Afghan Advert,” BBC News, 24 April 2007Google Scholar. Also see Walsh, Declan, “Afghan Fury Over UK Troops Telling Farmers They Can Grow Poppies,” Guardian Unlimited, 28 April 2007Google Scholar.

109 John, Mark, “Tougher NATO Line Sought On Afghan Drugs,” Reuters, 27 September 2007Google Scholar.

110 Massoud, Ahmad Zia, First Vice-President of Afghanistan, “Leave It to Us to End The Poppy Curse,” Telegraph (UK), 2 September 2007Google Scholar.

111 Naji, Daoud, “Mokhalefat-e Afghanistan Ba Sampashi Mazare-e Khashkhash” [Afghanistan's Opposition Against the Spraying of Poppy Fields], BBC Persian, 4 September 2007Google Scholar.

112 Long Distance Interview with a Key High-Ranking Official Privy to the Cabinet Debate (Anonymous), 6 September 2007.

113 Morarjee, “Doubts over Afghan Poppy Fight.”

114 Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007, UNODC, 1.

115 John, Mark, “Pressure for Tougher Afghan Anti-Drugs drive—UN,” Relief Web, 5 September 2007Google Scholar.

116 Babakarkhel, Zubair, “Senior Officials Linked to Drug Smuggling: Afghan VP,” Pajhwok Afghan News, 27 September 2007Google Scholar.

117 “Securing, Reconstructing and Stabilizing Afghanistan,” Report to Congressional Committee, United States Government Accountability Office (USGAO), May 2007, 13.

118 “Afghanistan Security”: Report to the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, USGAO, June 2005, 10.

119 Waldman, Matt, “Unsuitable, Unsustainable,” Guardian Unlimited (UK), 26 May 2007;Google Scholar Mojumdar, Aunohita, “Afghanistan Aid ‘Must be Spread’,” The Financial Times (UK), 19 March 2007Google Scholar.

120 Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Parliamentary Bulletin, 1, no. 2, 9 March 2007: 4.

121 Rahmani, Waliullah, “Afghanistan's Veteran Jihadi Leader: An Interview with Qazi Mohammad Amin Waqad,” The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor, vol. 4, no. 1 (3 May 2007). 23Google Scholar.

122 Interview with Noor-ul-Haq Olomi by Hussaini Madani “Noor-ul-Haq Olomi Ozw-e Majles-e Nomayendagan: Dar Hech Mawridi Khod Ra Ba Aqay-e Karzai Moqayesa Namekonam” [Noor-ul-Haq Olomi, Member of the Lower House of Parliament: I Will Never Compare Myself with Karzai on Any Issue], Payam-e-Mojahid Weekly, no. 547, 27 September 2007.

123 Summers, Deborah and Siddique, Haroon, “Brown Signals Iraq Pull-Out and Opens Door to Taliban in Afghanistan,” Guardian Unlimited, 25 September 2007;Google Scholar “Britania: Taliban Bayad Bakhshi Az Rawand-e Solh Bashand” [Britain: Taliban Should be Part of the Peace Process], BBC Persian, 25 September 2007.

124 Naji, Daoud, “Aamaadagee-e Karzai Baray-e Mozakera Ba Mullah Omar Wa Hekmatyar” [Karzai Ready for Negotiations with Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar], BBC Persian, 29 September 2007;Google Scholar “US Backs Peace Talks with Taliban,” Daily Times (Pakistan), 3 October 2007; Tom Allard, “Taliban Resurgent In Unending Conflict,” Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2007.

125 For a discussion of the concept of political stability see Hurwitz, Leon, “Contemporary Approaches to Political Stability,” Comparative Politics, 5, no. 3 (April 1973): 449463CrossRefGoogle Scholar.