Democratic model

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch

Afghanistan is an interesting incubator for democracy, perhaps more of a challenge than Iraq, which gets more of the world's attention. In the past three decades, the nation has suffered wars, military takeovers, Soviet occupation and a repressive Taliban regime that backed international terrorism. ...

The nation has a democratic parliament for the first time in 33 years, but about half of the 249 elected members of the lower house of the National Assembly are regional warlords. ...

Elected councils in Afghanistan's provinces appointed two-thirds of the 102 members of the upper house, while President Hamid Karzai appointed the other 34 members. ...

Karzai's challenges are daunting. He needs to win the support of parliamentarians, many of whom opposed his efforts to build a democracy. Afghan forces will have to quell the rebels. Karzai will have to obtain concessions from ethnic groups to get cabinet members or national policies approved. He'll need to address the concerns of a population that ranges from those who seek modernization to those who follow an ultraconservative form of Islam. ...

It will be an inspiration if Karzai and his advisers can hold this democratic model together.