Afghans Don't Trust Their Own Government
The results of a recently released Gallup poll suggest that the Afghan democracy project is going worse than expected, if that’s even possible… A few highlights:
- 8 in 10 Afghans believe their country is riddled with widespread corruption….more than half of respondents said they don’t think Hamid Karzai is doing enough to address it.
- Roughly half of respondents said that corruption has worsened since last December. More than a quarter of respondents said that nothing has changed at all.
Gallup conducted this survey in June, before the recent presidential elections. The elections featured the embarrassing spectacle of the United States forcing President Karzai to submit to a second round of voting amid charges of widespread corruption only to see his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, boycott it on the grounds that the run-off too would be corrupt.
The poll results though are astonishing figures that reveal just how little the Afghan people trust the government that they theoretically elected. In light of recent events, it is hard to blame them for wondering whom their government is actually working for. At the very least, the results of this poll suggest that the United States is pouring money and troops into Afghanistan in order to prop up a democratic system that has yielded a government the people don’t trust. At worst, if the Afghans are right and their government is as corrupt as they think, that would mean that U.S. dollars are being misappropriated and some government officials are probably selling their support or willingness to combat the Taliban to the highest bidder. Democracy will fail in Afghanistan if Karzai and company do not get their act together in a hurry and win the trust of the citizens that they should be serving. President Obama must decide whether he believes President Karzai can (or has any intention to) do so. If he believes the answer to this question is no, the United States will have quite a decision on its hands.