December 10, 2005
Optimistic AfghansEditorial: The Post and Courier, Charlestown, SC
Those who question whether Islam is compatible with democracy, and whether the United States is wasting
its time in Iraq, should pause to consider the situation in Afghanistan.
The country is in deep poverty. Half of all Afghans have never been to school. Nearly 80 percent live in small villages supported by a meager farm economy. The population is conservative, religious and desperate for income, a fact that has allowed inroads for warlords, drug criminals, religious fanatics and a high level of violence. Not, some might think, the best soil for democracy.
If so, they would be wrong. The first broad survey of Afghan opinion by a major news organization, ABC News, makes surprising reading for anyone inclined to be pessimistic about democracy in Islamic countries. It finds that an overwhelming majority of Afghans like their new democratic government and are optimistic about their future and the future of their country. More than three of every four Afghans are confident that their new parliament will work for their benefit, despite the fact that nearly half believe there was chicanery in the recent elections.
More than four out of five Afghans (83 percent) gave a positive rating to President Hamid Karzai at a time when President Bush's positive rating in this country was below 40 percent. Eighty-nine percent of Afghans, in a traditional, male-dominated society, support the education of women and women voting. Three-quarters support women holding jobs. Two-thirds support women holding public office, although this finding, as well as other opinions about the role of women in society, fell when the adjective “strongly” was added to the question. Nevertheless, disaffected Afghans are less than 15 percent of the population.
Seventy-seven percent of Afghans surveyed by the Afghan Center for Social and Opinion Research in Kabul, under the guidance of Charney Research of New York, felt that their country is headed in the right direction. They had little doubt about the reason for this. Eighty-seven percent said the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban was a good thing; only nine percent disagreed. Asked to name the greatest danger to their country, 41 percent named the Taliban, who continue to try a comeback; 28 percent cited drug traffickers; 22 percent cited warlords, and 95 percent of all persons surveyed supported the disarmament of warlord armies. Only 4 percent cited the United States as a danger.
Overall, 83 percent of Afghans expressed a favorable opinion of the United States and 68 percent gave it good grades for the security and development work it is doing in Afghanistan. On the other hand, 8 percent liked the Taliban, and 5 percent had a favorable view of Osama bin Laden. Americans should support the good job the administration is doing in Afghanistan, and keep these numbers in mind the next time they hear that democracy and Islam are incompatible and that the United States is universally hated in the Muslim world.
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