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Study Finds Postwar Afghanistan Improved NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON -- Afghans are praising changes in their country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 but think improvements are coming too slowly and for too few people, a study by a Washington think tank found. It said reconstruction from the latest fighting and almost continual civil turmoil of the last decade of the 20th century is being hampered largely by corrupt and predatory local officials in President Hamid Karzai's government. Story Continues Below The Center for Strategic and International Studies said the study, "Voices of a New Afghanistan," released Tuesday, represented "an integrated method to measure progress in stabilization and reconstruction ... that draws heavily on ordinary citizens' perceptions of progress and where their country is heading." It was based on 1,060 conversations that 12 Afghan researchers had April 16-28 with 1,609 Afghans in 20 of the country's 34 provinces. In retaliation for the Sept. 11, attacks, soldiers from the United States and other countries invaded in late 2001. With the cooperation of tribal militias in northern Afghanistan, it routed the ruling Taliban militia and the al-Qaida terror headquarters the Taliban had sheltered. The study found that security remains a major problem, although it is crime rather than terror that is the most troublesome security problem. Kidnapping, robbery and murder were cited as most worrying. "Taliban and al-Qaida are seen as less of a threat, and largely discredited," it said, although "people throughout the country fear that without the international military presence Afghanistan will erupt into violence." As for governance, corruption among local and provincial officials keeps Afghans from trusting or relying on them, the report said. It said, however, "Afghans support the central government and equate it with President Karzai," even though criticism is widespread that the government has produced too few visible results. Afghans still resort to existing traditional mechanisms for justice and accountability, but they "do not provide justice for many Afghans. Bribery and corruption are rampant in the formal justice sector. Individual rights are poorly understood and poorly protected, especially for women." Economic opportunity for the average Afghan is weak. Illegal poppy growing provides livelihoods for some, "but a majority of Afghans believe poppy is bad for the development of their country." Corruption springs from inadequate salaries for government workers and the police forces. Health care, education, services and infrastructure are improved in many communities, the study found, but significant gaps remain. "There is no clear consensus among Afghans ... about which needs are priorities," the report said. "Afghan expectations remain high." © 2005 The Associated Press
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