09/29/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10158

COMMERCE COMES TO KANDAHAR

With the repressive Taleban regime ousted by the U.S.-led coalition, commerce has returned to Kandahar. The Afghan city has been a trading center since the days of Alexander the Great. After the Islamic extremist Taleban came to power, basic freedoms were ended. Women became prisoners in their homes and had to cover themselves with a burqa. Men were forced to grow long beards and pray five times a day. Music, television, and paintings and other images were outlawed.

All these restrictions made doing business in Afghanistan very difficult. As Fizul [FAI-zil] Haq [hahk], owner of a new car dealership in Kandahar, said, "No one was coming down here to buy because the religious police were harassing everyone -- even one of my salesmen was arrested for driving without a hat."

But now, Kandahar is coming back to life. A year ago, Taleban police strung up the body of a man who had been beaten to death for owning a satellite phone. This year, only blocks from the site of murder, the new mayor, Abdullah Popal, inaugurated Kandahar’s first international direct-dial service. "We want to be a part of the world," said Mr. Popal. He went on to say, "We have had concerts in the stadium with national dances. Women are going to school. We are building two cinemas."

Under the Taleban, the stadium was used for executions, often of women accused of adultery. Girls were prohibited from attending schools and boys only went to religious institutions. Now, more than one-hundred fifty-thousand children in Kandahar attend new public schools. Private English-language schools are full.

In another sign of the post-Taleban times, Kandahar now has about one-hundred video shops. "The day the Americans came in and the mullahs escaped, the first video stores opened," said Abdul Satar [SAH-tar], a video storeowner. The Taleban enforced a ban on human images. Mr. Satar’s shop now offers several dozen American titles and many others from India.

Thanks to the U.S.-led coalition’s efforts, the Taleban is out of power and the normal sights and sounds of life are returning to most of Afghanistan. Afghans are rebuilding their economy and reclaiming their personal liberties. As President George W. Bush said, "I am confident. . .that with patience and with aid and with a proper strategy. . .Afghanistan can develop into a peaceful and hopeful nation."