Will the parliamentary elections deepen democracy in Afghanistan?
Regions / Afghanistan
Afghanistan will undergo the first presidential elections in the countrys history on October 9, 2004.
The Taliban are acutely aware that sustained donor interest and military support will not last forever; donor fatigue, shifting budgetary priorities, and waning donor attention are inevitable.
We have yet to pay the complete costs of the militarization of foreign policy under the Bush administration, and the bill will be high.
With a constitution ratified and the country's first elections in decades scheduled for June-July 2004--although the continued deterioration of security conditions have placed this target in doubt--the Bonn political process has entered its final phase.
Afghans have seized the opportunity provided by the United States and its international partners to lay the foundation for democratic institutions and provide a framework for national elections.
Neither Afghanistan nor Iraq is "under control," particularly when it comes to monetary costs.
A number of factors and conditions have led to Afghanistan's security dilemma.
In the foreign policy arena, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is having about as much trouble making it to first base as Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in their old-time comedy skit "Who's on First."
Congress is set to give the Pentagon more than $400 billion to spend on war preparations and now, it seems, on the "non-wars."