With the dramatic events in Iraq this weekend, it's easy to forget we've got boots on the ground in another difficult piece of geography.
Is this good news?
Afghanistan unveils draft constitution
Posted: Monday, November 3, 4:50am EST
Afghanistan unveiled a post-Taliban draft constitution Monday, a historic milestone on what has been a bloody, bumpy and often tragic path to recovery after decades of war.
The constitution, which aims to unite the diverse Afghan people under democratic principles with an Islamic core - must still be debated at a constitutional grand council, or loya jirga, next month. Ratification of the document will set the stage for nationwide elections scheduled for next June.
A red-bound copy of the long-awaited draft was handed to former King Mohammad Zaher Shah, President Hamid Karzai and Lakhdar Brahimi, special envoy of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, during a ceremony at Kabul's Presidential Palace.
The draft constitution gives the country the official name, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, a sign of the government's desire to bring the country together under Islam. However, the hardline Islamic law practiced by the Taliban is not expected to be a part of the new constitution.
The draft also allows political parties to be established as long as their charters "do not contradict the principles of Islam" and sets other conditions such as not having any military aims or foreign affiliation
Afghanistan, which actually DID have something to do with 9/11, seems to have fallen off both the media's and W's radar screen. Is an "Islamic Republic" a good thing? Is there going to be sufficient security by next June for an election to have any meaning or credibility? Where IS Osama bin Laden?
Other news from Afghanistan is less encouraging:
(via The War in Context)
Fierce fighting and a kidnapping in Afghanistan
By Carlotta Gall, New York Times, November 2, 2003
Fierce bouts of factional fighting erupted on Friday across Afghanistan, and a Turkish road engineer was reported kidnapped by suspected Taliban fighters, officials said Saturday.
Fighting between the local police and a militia chief broke out on Friday in the center of the town of Gereshk, in southern Afghanistan, killing at least six people just yards from a United States Special Forces base, local officials said.
Factional fighting was also reported in northern Afghanistan, where rival warlords have been vying for months for control of territory. Five soldiers were killed in clashes between two groups on Friday in Sar-i-Pul Province, an official from one faction told Reuters
This conflict has been internationalized--NATO is on the ground with us--which is a good thing. But,once again, we have insufficient forces on the ground to secure much more than the area right around Kabul, so this conflict has the potential to come back and bite us like Iraq. And there are plenty of Stinger missiles kicking around loose. We supplied them to the Mujahadeen during the Soviet war.