What Do The Afghan People Want Obama To Do?
They are the ones trapped in this conflict, many of them killed by both the Taliban and US/NATO forces.
Are their voices being heard? Here are some of them.
From a commentary at McClatchy:
" 'There is a lot of optimism around Obama,' said Sayed Nasim, a graduate of the law and political science department of Balkh University, in northern Afghanistan.
" 'America has not fulfilled expectations during its past seven years here, but during his campaign Obama was emphasizing that that he would give this country serious attention,' he said.
" 'We want real change, not just some shift in the pieces on the chess board of power,' Nasin said. "Obama should make economic change his priority, rather than sending more troops.' America brought dramatic change to Afghanistan more than seven years ago after the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban. Today, however, Afghanistan seems more deeply mired in violence and corruption than ever.
"Development in much of the country is all but at a standstill; in the southern provinces the insurgency is gaining ground almost daily.
"Afghans who expected immediate benefits from the international presence are bitterly disappointed and eager to vent their frustrations on the international community in general and former U.S. President George W. Bush for the current situation.
" 'Over the past seven years, Bush has done a lot of damage that Mr. Obama is going to have to fix,' said Khalil Rahman Omed, a journalist in Lashkar Gah. 'My only wish is that he will do good things for this country.' Many here are skeptical that Obama's plan to nearly double the number of American forces in Afghanistan to 60,000 is one of those good things.
" 'We accept the foreign forces on one condition: that Obama changes Bush's policies,' said Abdul Jabar, who trained as a journalist in Iran but now works as a cook in Kabul. 'If he does good things for Afghanistan economically, then we will agree to the troops. But if it is the same as in the past, if innocent civilians are killed in these daily bombardments, then we are just fed up,' he said.
"Mohammad Sedeq, a shopkeeper in Kabul, had a similar message.
" 'If (Obama) sends 20,000 or 40,000 more troops, it will make no difference,' he said. 'They won't be able to control even one valley if there is resistance. If Mr. Obama has a good heart, and good intentions, there will be a positive impact. But if he is like this George Bush guy, we don't want him. It would be really dangerous for Afghanistan.' Sedeq also said that Obama's idea of arming former warlords or tribal militias to fight the Taliban is a bad idea.
" "Afghans have been a toy on the superpower playground for long enough,' said Abdul Hakim, a nurse in Mazar-e-Sharif. 'Our people are now poor because of this, they do not have technology, a developed economy, culture. We have been made into a weak country. I ask Obama to stop this.' "
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