Quote:

KABUL: Afghans are far more optimistic about their future than they were a year ago and support the presence of US troops in their country, according to a poll released yesterday. About 70 per cent of Afghans think their country is "going in the right direction", compared with 40 per cent a year earlier, the highest figure since 2005, according to the survey for the BBC, ABC news and ARD of Germany. Of those polled, 68 per cent support the presence of US troops in the country and slightly fewer -- 62 per cent -- support the presence of other allied troops. Despite claims to represent the Afghan people, the Taliban won little support: 69 per cent of Afghans said they presented the greatest danger to the country's future. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the findings were "striking and significant". `The Afghan people don't want to go back to Taliban misrule," he said. "This is a war of the mind as much as a war for ground. The important thing now is that we take advantage of the sense of optimism." However, 43 per cent of Afghans said they would prefer the country to be run as an Islamic state while 32 per cent favour continuing down the path of democracy. Support has revived for President Hamid Karzai, with 72 per cent believing he is doing a good or excellent job, even though only 39 per cent believe his re-election last year was conducted honestly and 59 per cent think the vote counting was fraudulent. The rise in optimism appeared linked with improvements in living conditions: 55 per cent of Afghans say they have an electricity supply, more than double the 19 per cent who did last year. Some 41 per cent believe their job prospects are good or very good, and 59 per cent own a mobile phone. However, the picture was gloomier in Helmand province, the Taliban stronghold in the south. Only half of Helmand residents said they thought the country was going in the right direction and one in three believes the Taliban will defeat the government, against one in 10 in the country as a whole. Corruption was cited as a major problem by 76 per cent of respondents, and support for the US and the government dropped sharply in the Taliban-dominated south and east. The results follow the bloodiest year for NATO forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion. More casualties are expected during a planned surge against the Taliban. The Afghan Centre for Socio-Economic and Opinion Research spoke to 1534 Afghans in all 34 provinces in December for the poll, which has been carried out every year since 2005, apart from 2008.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/poll-reveals-optimism-among-afghans/story-e6frg6so-1225818568565

Even if they decide to have it, will take few generations at least to change the old ways of doing things.

So some democracy in the meantime, but better than what they used to have.

Interesting. According to Abu they are turning to the Taliban in drives. He even posted an article that quoted two people who thought it was fantastic how the Taliban beat up their neighbours for them.

yes, have to remember abu's a muslim islamic

This UN poll tends to suggest the one above was anything but accurate. Also paints a grim picture of the country, with the amount of bribes now equalling about 1/4 of it's GDP.

Yeh great job guys, looks like Democracy really won out in Afghanistan  ;D

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UN Afghanistan survey points to huge scale of bribery

Afghans paid $2.5bn (£1.5bn) in bribes over the past 12 months, or the equivalent of almost one quarter of legitimate GDP, a UN report suggests.

Surveying 7,600 people, it found nearly 60% more concerned about corruption than insecurity or unemployment.

More than half the population had to pay at least one bribe to a public official last year, the report adds.

The findings contrast sharply with a recent BBC survey in which the economy appeared to top Afghan concerns.

The survey commissioned by the BBC and other broadcasters in December suggested that fewer Afghans (14%) saw corruption as the biggest problem than the economy (34%) and security situation (32%).

According to the UN survey, bribes averaged $160 (£98) in contrast to an average Afghan annual income of $425.

Bribes were most often paid to police, judges and politicians but members of international organisations and NGOs were also seen as corrupt, the survey said.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47140000/gif/_47140236_afghan_corruption_466.gif

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said corruption was contributing to drug-trafficking and terrorism in Afghanistan.

The UNODC said its report, Corruption in Afghanistan, was based on interviews with 7,600 people in 12 provincial capitals and more than 1,600 villages around Afghanistan.

The BBC survey, which was also nationwide, was based on a smaller number of people (1,534).

Explicit demands

According to the UN survey, 59% of Afghans said their daily experience of public dishonesty was a bigger concern than insecurity (54%) or unemployment (52%).

In 56% of cases, the request for illicit payment was an explicit demand by the bribe-taker, it said.

In three out of four cases, bribes were paid in cash.

Around one in four Afghans surveyed had to pay at least one bribe to police and local officials during the survey period while between 10 and 20% had to pay bribes either to judges, prosecutors or members of the government.

"The Afghans say that it is impossible to obtain a public service without paying a bribe," said Mr Costa.

"Bribery is a crippling tax on people who are already among the world's poorest," he added.

'Perverse and growing'

Another finding of the survey is that at least one in three Afghans believed that corruption was the norm.

Only 9% of the urban population ever reported an act of corruption to the authorities, the survey said.

There was also a perception among 54% of Afghans that international organisations and NGOs were corrupt and "in the country just to get rich", the survey added.

"This perception risks undermining aid effectiveness and discrediting those trying to help a country desperately in need of assistance," the UNODC said.

Mr Costa noted the emergence of a "new caste of rich and powerful individuals who operate outside the traditional power/tribal structures and bid the cost of favours and loyalty to levels not compatible with the under-developed nature of the country".

"Criminal graft has become similarly monumental, perverse and growing and is having political, economic and even security consequences," he said.

He expressed his concern that the lack of confidence in the Afghan authorities apparent in the survey was making the Taliban's advocacy of "more violent forms of retribution... treacherously appealing".

"It's time to drain the swamp of corruption in Afghanistan, to stop money and trust disappearing down a big black hole," the UNODC chief concludes.

"Corruption is the biggest impediment to improving security, development and governance in Afghanistan."

Source: BBC

Quote:

This UN poll tends to suggest the one above was anything but accurate.

Abu I think you'll find that poll was about a different topic.

Nope, this article references the other poll, read again.

It is very interesting how you choose to interpret the discrepancy. It doesn't suggest which poll was inaccurate, or even that either poll was inaccurate. They could merely have been taken at different times. It certainly does not suggest that Afghans oppose democracy. Even Australians have been known to change their mind about which political issue is a priority.

..interesting how islamabu interperets anything .......

i can think of other words.

So you're saying that in one month (ie. from December when the BBC poll was done till January when this U.N one was done) the % of Afghans concerned about corruption all of a sudden shot up from 14% to 60%?? Come on fd.

It's possible, especially if the media made a big deal of it over Christmas. There are plenty of reasons why such a nebulous issue could poll differently.

More importantly, it does not indicate that Afghans in fact oppose democracy.

We don't have a 'useful idiot watch' thread (probably a waaay too insensitive title) but there is a need for it.

Here's an example from the Islam ghetto forum:


Quote:

Karnal Gold Member  Re: Afghans tell it as it is - U.S are the warmongers Reply #19 - Today at 12:10pm   If the US wanted to establish genuine democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, they would have staged elections at the outset.Instead, the US waited for 3 years in Iraq, and during this time the previous institutions of government were destroyed. They didn't call it Shock and Awe for nothing. During this time, the power and water suppliers were privatised, new 10-20 year oil contracts were drawn up, the museums were looted and burnt, and Ba'athist Party members were banned from holding government positions - a direction that left only religious and militant groups to enter the vacuum. When the elections happened, they were a mere formality. The institutions of state had already been destroyed. Elections mean nothing when the elected have nothing to govern, and no rule of law in which to act.

I can see where the money went with your education...

" If the US wanted to establish genuine democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, they would have staged elections at the outset."

If this idiocy were true, then there could now be no democracy in Germany : it was destroyed and de-nazified (same as being de-Baathified), its constitution re-written completely.  The war ended in Europe in May 1945. When was the first election for the West German Bundestag?? 4 years later, in 1949 (the first elections in 16 years). Before the Marshal Plan kicked in in 1947, there was a Morgenthau Plan, in effect for 2 years, to de-industrialise Germany.i

they are entering anarchy

but luckily they are a religious civ so they only lose one turn

Little Brian Smith (Abu Rashid)  lobbed up to his local bazaar yesterday and joined the Teletubbies.

aussie free 3 ride

aikmann4 wrote on Oct 15^th, 2010 at 1:29pm:

aussie free 3 ride

You`re right, I`ve got too many bikes.

riding them all at the same time brah

Changing gears is a bit tricky.

i got six arms mate so its no problem for me

motabikes