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warlords, some of which trading with the US government. Ironically enough, this provides a certain amount of stability in the region.

I wouldn't call that stability. After both the Soviets and the CIA pulled out, the warlords first conducted a terrible civil war. That civil war was kind of ended by the Taleban, which conquered most of their territories. Then the US let the warlords back - but they conduct their own fiefdoms, their soldiers are no better for the population than the Taleban (in fact, some Afghanis say, worse: by allowing free reign of common criminals), clash with each other ocassionally - and all the while the Taleban conducts a guerilla campaign, lately with Iraq as the model.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Tue Feb 28th, 2006 at 09:56:52 AM EST
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<laugh> I suppose I perceive the US warlord funding as a sort of a foreign economical investment. We can see what a free market economy can do to an economically and politically devastated country. I suppose we agree that current "government" is no better than the Taleban.

Be careful! Is it classified?
by darin (dkaloyanov[at]gmail.com) on Tue Feb 28th, 2006 at 11:26:47 AM EST
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I would agree that the current government is "no good", but it is definitely better than the taliban. The latter are apparently targeting schools and teachers in an effort to eradicate girls' education and any trace of a modern curriculum.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Feb 28th, 2006 at 11:32:53 AM EST
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Well, outside of the gaze of CNN and othere looking-for-propaganda Western media, the warlords kept up the same in most places outside Kabul anyway. Ismail Khan, the warlord recently removed by the central government, even introduced the same religious police. Not to mention the rape rampages of the warlords' soldiers.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Tue Feb 28th, 2006 at 11:38:55 AM EST
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When I say "the current government" I mean "the mayor of Kabul", of course.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Feb 28th, 2006 at 11:41:46 AM EST
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