As the United States prepares to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to bolster Karzai's beleaguered government, Taliban leaders are quietly pushing ahead with preparations for a moment they believe is inevitable: their return to power. The Taliban has done so by establishing an elaborate shadow government of governors, police chiefs, district administrators and judges that in many cases already has more bearing on the lives of Afghans than the real government. ...WaPo
That other government is harsh but, as the Post report puts it, respected, decisive and effective. The Karzai government is not only corrupt, it's ineffectual. More to the point, the Karzai government is not represented -- is not even present -- in much of Afghanistan. The shadow government of the Taliban is everywhere.
Shadow government officials collect taxes, forcing farmers at gunpoint to turn over 10 percent of their crops, according to accounts of officials and residents. Taliban district chiefs conscript young men into the radical Islamist movement's army of insurgents, threatening death for those unwilling to serve. And the Taliban's judges issue rulings marked by a ruthless efficiency: With no jails in which to hold prisoners, execution by hanging or automatic rifle is the swiftly delivered punishment for convicted murderers and rapists, or for anyone found guilty of working with the government.
"Whether people like them or not, they have to support them," said Fatima Aziz, a parliament member from Kunduz, a province where she said the shadow government has emerged only in the past year.
On the other hand, while the shadow government may be strong and effective in running and policing a large part of the country, it provides no social services -- no education, no health care. It's probably a fair guess that it will soon find itself up against some 30,000 fresh troops with new strategies and a deadline.
The question remains: do we really want to risk so many lives and resources on destroying a respected and dependable leadership in order to maintain a slovenly, corrupt and weak Karzai government, a government that's out of touch with the vast majority of the people of Afghanistan?
