Last Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was able to broker a deal between the major Afghani presidential candidates. Since the Afghan presidential election run-off in June, there had been an effective stalemate. Adullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai had threatened to set up separate governments and in general the situation was quite tense.
In a side note Harmid Karzai was not able to run for president again. A fact for which many, many people were thankful because he was something of a nutcase.
So this looks like a victory for those that support democratic processes. The U.N. will audit the election results, including 8 million votes. A decided winner would presumably form an inclusive government and not necessarily make it 'winner take all.' Iraq serves as a poor example of what happens when one ethnic group conciously or unconciously occupies the whole seat of power in a federation. Violence, rebellion and chaos as 'identity groups' seek some modicrum of power. Either of out personal ambition of the leaders, or even a certain zeitgeist of the group that they are going to avoid genocide and holocaust. For hundreds of years men have certainly showed that they are capable of that. This is no phantom fear.
If you look at each of these men, what do you see? Abdullah Abullah is a 'reportedly' a persian speaking Tajik. His stepfather was Pashto, so presumably he has been intermingled with other ethnic groups since an ealry age. He was a close friend of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was persian Tajik. Abullah did not accept the run-off results as legitimate. Ashraf Ghani is commonly referred to by his first two names, since the last is the name of this tribe. He is a Pashtun, and thought to be a leading intellectual in not only Afghanistan, but the world. The U.S. does well to exert influence at this point between these two men. As educated and worldly as each obviously are, they still stand as symbols of a diverse Afghan society. Each part of this society need to remain intertwined and preferrably move towards interdependence. The last thing that Afghanistan needs now is more ethnic fighting.
In a side note Harmid Karzai was not able to run for president again. A fact for which many, many people were thankful because he was something of a nutcase.
So this looks like a victory for those that support democratic processes. The U.N. will audit the election results, including 8 million votes. A decided winner would presumably form an inclusive government and not necessarily make it 'winner take all.' Iraq serves as a poor example of what happens when one ethnic group conciously or unconciously occupies the whole seat of power in a federation. Violence, rebellion and chaos as 'identity groups' seek some modicrum of power. Either of out personal ambition of the leaders, or even a certain zeitgeist of the group that they are going to avoid genocide and holocaust. For hundreds of years men have certainly showed that they are capable of that. This is no phantom fear.
If you look at each of these men, what do you see? Abdullah Abullah is a 'reportedly' a persian speaking Tajik. His stepfather was Pashto, so presumably he has been intermingled with other ethnic groups since an ealry age. He was a close friend of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was persian Tajik. Abullah did not accept the run-off results as legitimate. Ashraf Ghani is commonly referred to by his first two names, since the last is the name of this tribe. He is a Pashtun, and thought to be a leading intellectual in not only Afghanistan, but the world. The U.S. does well to exert influence at this point between these two men. As educated and worldly as each obviously are, they still stand as symbols of a diverse Afghan society. Each part of this society need to remain intertwined and preferrably move towards interdependence. The last thing that Afghanistan needs now is more ethnic fighting.
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