09977

06/30/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09977

KARZAI TAKES CHARGE

"Our objective is to take Afghans to a better life, out of this quagmire of twenty-three years, a quagmire of warlordism, terrorism, and hunger." With those words, Hamid Karzai began his presidency by swearing in cabinet ministers of Afghanistan's interim government. Mr. Karzai was elected to lead Afghanistan for the next eighteen months by the Loya Jirga, or national council. Since January, he has served as chairman of Afghanistan’s interim government.

Mr. Karzai has promised to work to heal ethnic divisions, end local domination by warlords, and rebuild a country whose infrastructure has been destroyed by years of Soviet occupation, civil war, natural calamities, and the oppressive Taleban regime.

President Karzai says he wants a government that will be accountable, and be able to develop a national army, a judiciary, and police force. He wants to strengthen the government's authority beyond Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital. And he intends to address the issue of holding accountable people who committed war crimes.

The Afghan people are finally free of the oppressive Taleban regime, which gave sanctuary and support to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network. But since the September 11^th terrorist attacks on the United States, the American and Afghan people have worked together to root out both the Taleban and the al-Qaida from Afghanistan. "Our fight will go on against terrorists, and all those who are there to hurt mankind," said President Karzai.

The United States will continue to support President Karzai and the Afghan people as they work to rebuild their country. Since 1979, the U.S. has contributed more than one-billion dollars. The U.S. is still the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. Since last September, the U.S. has given more than three-hundred-sixty million dollars in assistance for education, water, sanitation, and food and for the re-integration of refugees. That assistance will continue.

The shape of Afghanistan's government will not be set until a new constitution is written and adopted. But with the support of the U.S. and its allies in the war on terrorism, Afghanistan has an unprecedented opportunity to build a stable and peaceful society. The Afghan people deserve nothing less.