Afghanistan looking more like Iraq

Four years after fall of Taliban, leader's power barely extends beyond the capital

Declan Walsh in Kabul and Ewen MacAskill
Thursday March 2, 2006

The Guardian (UK)

Standing behind George Bush inside his Kabul palace yesterday, Hamid Karzai radiated the trappings of a powerful president: a confident smile, massed security guards and the legitimacy bestowed by the 2004 election in which he won 55% of the vote. He appeared proud as Mr Bush praised Afghanistan for its progress over the past five years.

But outside the palace walls, Mr Karzai's hold on power vacillates sharply. Kabul is a showcase for post-Taliban achievements - growing school attendance, women freely walking the streets and a billion-pound aid industry. But for all its progress, the capital feels like an overcrowded garrison town. Electricity is sporadic, crime is soaring and running water is scarce. Taxis from other cities are turned away at the city limits for fear they might carry militants or suicide bombers. At night the streets are largely deserted, save for twitchy policemen.

Beyond Kabul, Mr Karzai's control ranges from minimal to non-existent. "You have a government but you do not have a state, with institutions and infrastructure," Ayesha Khan, an associate fellow at the foreign affairs thinktank Chatham House, based in London, said yesterday.

(There's more here.)