Sounds like the Afghans understand how American democracy really works:
- MARGAREEN, Afghanistan
Abdul Razaq stands among the menfolk of this dusty village of Afghan nomads and rejoices that democracy has at last come to his country after more than 20 years of warfare.
“It means I can finally cast my ballot for Hamid Karzai,” Razaq, a Kuchi tribesman, said yesterday, echoing the words of about 300 other men gathered on a treeless hillside near a clutch of tents and mud-brick homes. They had convened to learn from U.N. education officers how to take part in the Oct. 9 vote. “Karzai is our leader. Karzai is our king,” Razaq and the others repeated.
Each man in this poor village just outside the capital, Kabul, says he will vote for Karzai, the interim president and a fellow Pashtun, Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group. They say their elders have told them that Karzai is the best choice, and they see no reason to question that.
“In Kuchi society, we listen to our elders. They have said the choice is ours, but that Karzai is the man for the job,” said Mohammed Saeed, a 41-year-old father of seven. “We all know what to do. We will all be voting for Karzai.”
Of course, the Associated Press chap on the scene fails to see any parallels:
- There is certainly no lack of enthusiasm among many Afghans as their nation prepares for its first-ever direct vote for president. The Kuchis, most of them nomadic sheep and goat herders, say they have delayed their annual 100-mile trek by foot to the eastern city of Jalalabad so they will be nearer to home and their voting places.
But there is still little understanding in this tribal society of either the mechanics of voting, or the concept that each vote is an individual decision.
That is one reason why the electoral campaign so far has borne such little resemblance to a Western-style vote. There have been only a handful of rallies and debates and few campaign promises. Instead, candidates have spent most of their time meeting behind the high-walled compounds of Kabul’s political elite with tribal elders who can deliver a guarantee of hundreds of votes.
Ah, the comfort of chavinistic delusions! “Such little resemblance to a Western-style vote”?! Has this journalist ever heard of Jesse Jackson or Ralph Reed?
- One man among the crowd under a huge awning said he lost a brother and 14 relatives in an infamous American air raid in July 2002, when 48 civilians at a wedding party were said to have been killed and 117 wounded. He still plans, however, to vote for U.S.-backed Karzai.
“Karzai is an elder of our tribe. There is no other choice,” Haji Mohammed Anwar said.
I daresay Mr. Anwar’s analysis is no less sophisticated than that of the average voter in the U.S./UK. Instead of marveling at the naivete of Afghans, someone should be asking why a majority of Americans and Britons will likely consider Afghanistan a success story after this bogus vote is over.