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| Afghanistan |
| Warlords attending Loya Jirga |
| 2002-06-12 |
| At the loya jirga, delegate Safar Mohammed, drew cheers and applause when he questioned the presence of warlords and military commanders at the meeting. "We were told that this loya jirga would not include all the people who had blood on their hands. But we see these people everywhere. They are the ones who had the guns. I don't know whether this is a loya jirga or a commanders' council," Mohammed said. He also said 1,500 delegates were supposed to be attending but 1,700 were on hand. Official delegates were chosen in U.N.-sponsored district elections, held across Afghanistan for nearly a month. "Who are all these other people? Why are they here? The commissioner has not explained who they are," he said. "All the governors are here, the warlords are here. Who chose them?" Maybe they should consider handing out credentials? If there are only 1500 credentials, and there are 1700 applicants, somebody should have some 'splainin' to do. Either that, or somebody'll get conked on the turban and have his taken away by Person or Persons Unknown®. (I just love the Democratic Process)... Organizing commission chairman Ismail Qasim Yar responded: "It's up to the people to decide. And whoever they chose is here." And a few other people, too... The European Union special representative Klaus-Peter Klaiber said he was also surprised that warlords were participating in the loya jirga. "I was amazed to see in the first and second rows those so-called warlords sitting together," he told a news conference. "It tells me only one thing: the interim administration has decided to try to integrate former warlords into policy-making in Kabul. If they succeed, that will be an achievement." As long as the hard boys with guns aren't the totality of who's in charge, it'll be an achievement. The problem is that they usually end up being so. On the other hand, cutting out the guys who did the actual bullet dodging against first the Sovs and then the Talibs seems pretty mean-spirited. If they'd lost, they'd have been hung or run out of the country, so a slice of the pie when the dust is settling seems fair. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |