Afghanistan News December 10, 2005

December 10, 2005

Karzai Makes Parliamentary Appointments
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 9,11:40 PM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai has made his appointments to the upper house of Afghanistan's parliament, set to convene this month for the first time in over 30 years, officials said Friday.

Karzai also welcomed NATO's decision to send 6,000 extra troops into the volatile south of Afghanistan, saying it showed the world was still paying attention to the country.

The president's appointees to parliament come from various Afghan factions and include a former Taliban official and an ethnic Tajik former defense minister — indicating Karzai wants to create a balance among rival groups as Afghanistan embraces democracy after decades of war.

The president appoints one-third of the 102-seat upper house, and the rest are elected by provincial councils. Afghans voted for a lower house in September. Parliament is due to open Dec. 19 — the final step on Afghanistan's internationally backed political transition after the 2001 ouster of the Taliban.

A government official said Karzai's appointees include Mohammed Fahim, an ethnic Tajik and a prominent figure in the Northern Alliance that helped the United States drive the Taliban from power. Karzai fired Fahim as defense minister a year ago.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the names of the appointees have yet to be announced.

Human rights groups have accused Fahim of abuses during the quarter-century of violence that started with the Soviet invasion of 1979 and included deadly fighting among rival warlords in the early 1990s and the subsequent Taliban takeover.

Another appointee is Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban deputy minister for higher education, the official said. Others include the governors of Uruzgan and Helmand, two southern provinces still plagued by Taliban rebel violence, and Sulaiman Yari, a Shia Muslim from the ethnic Hazara community who is loyal to Karzai.

Karzai is a member of Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, the mostly Sunni Muslim Pashtuns.

Karzai said Thursday he was appointing a broad range of people including intellectuals, tribal leaders and a representative of the small Hindu community.

The joint Afghan-U.N. election board has certified Karzai's appointees, the board said in a news release. It said Karzai's office would announce the names.

Another government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Karzai had submitted his list of appointees to the joint Afghan-U.N. election board for certification.

Karzai expressed thanks to NATO after the military alliance announced the plans to expand its operations in Afghanistan. The deployment next year of 6,000 mostly European and Canadian troops will free up U.S. forces for counterinsurgency operations and likely lead to a reduction in U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan.

"The new measure of NATO, the new soldiers for the security of Afghanistan, are appreciated. It shows the world's attention to Afghanistan," he told a news conference.

"Afghanistan still does not have the ability to provide completely for the security of the country."

NATO peacekeepers currently operate in the relatively stable north and west of Afghanistan. With the deployment in the south, it will have as many as 18,000 troops in the country.

Taliban attack Afghan police: eight police, six militants killed
Sat Dec 10, 2:52 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Taliban fighters have attacked two police posts in volatile southern Afghanistan, with eight policemen and six attackers killed in the ensuing battles, officials said.

The biggest attack was in southernmost Helmand province, where about 90 Taliban stormed a police post in Garmser district late Friday, police said.

Seven policemen were killed and six wounded, Garmser district police chief Haji Bahader Jan told AFP on Saturday.

"Five Taliban were also killed. Four police cars were burnt and the police and district building damaged," he said.

A purported spokesman for the extremist Taliban movement that was removed from government in a US-led campaign in late 2001 confirmed that about 90 of the group's fighters had carried out the attack.

The man, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, told AFP in a telephone call from an undisclosed location that 10 policemen and one Taliban were killed. He often calls the media to claim attacks on behalf of the Taliban but his links to the group have not been verified.

There have been regular attacks on the police in Helmand, most of them linked to the Taliban insurgency. One of the biggest was on October 10 when 18 policemen were killed.

The second attack on police late Friday was in neighbouring Zabul province, the interior ministry said.

"As a result of an armed clash between enemy and armed forces, one police was killed and another was lightly injured. One dead body was left behind from the enemy," spokesman Yousuf Stanizai told AFP.

He said the attack was carried out by "enemies of peace", a term Afghan officials often use to refer to Taliban insurgents.

The insurgency has this year been the most deadly since 2001. About 1,500 people, many of them militants, have been killed this year.

The focus of the attacks has been the ethnic Pashtun-dominated areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan.

A US-led coalition force of about 20,000 troops, most of the American, is based in the south and east hunting down Taliban and other Islamic insurgents. Nearly 60 US troops have been killed by hostile fire this year.

Afghanistan: Counter-narcotics police get training
KABUL, 7 December (IRIN) - At least 200 members of the Counter-Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA), including investigators, intelligence analysts and prosecutors, have completed a week's training on basic drug investigation, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

Afghanistan's special force, tasked with reducing the cultivation and sale of hard drugs, is less than two years old but has had some successes: the CNPA has destroyed in excess of 145 mt of opium and closed down over 170 drug-processing laboratories.
But critics say much more needs to be done before Afghanistan is no longer the world's number one supplier of opium.

As a part of continued support for Afghanistan's police, Washington's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has provided training to enhance the fight against illicit narcotics in the post-conflict country.

"The classes taught included: case initiation; report writing; evidence handling; surveillance; drug identification; the new counter-narcotics
Law; and courtroom testimony," Yousuf Stanizai, a spokesman for the interior ministry said.

"Twelve female police officers were also provided with counter-narcotics training on investigation," Stanizai noted.

The US ambassador in Afghanistan, Ronald Neumann said: "The United States and the international community recognise the importance of Afghanistan's counter-narcotic police and all are actively involved in providing training for the counter-narcotic police of Afghanistan."

Around 400 suspects have been detained during counter-narcotic operations across the country over the past 12 months and have been turned over to the new Counter-Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force (CNCJTF), according to the interior ministry.

Although the amount of land under poppy cultivation fell by 21 percent over the past year, production is still booming, meaning Afghanistan produced about 87 percent of the world's supply of opium, most of which is used to make heroin.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran hold a tripartite meeting in Kabul next year
Online - International News Network, Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran have decided to hold a tripartite meeting to discuss joint measures to prevent drugs trafficking and improve border security next year.

This decision was taken in a joint meeting of the three countries Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in Islamabad, reports Radio Azadi.

In the meeting it was decided that the three countries would cooperate with each other against drug smuggling and drug processing laboratories in their border areas.

A 5-member delegation of Afghanistan led by the head anti-drug programme, Faswal Syed Kamal represented their country at the meeting.

The meeting will be held in Kabul next year.

In Kabul, a Stark Gulf Between Wealthy Few and the Poor
By Griff Witte Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, December 9, 2005; A25
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Displayed under fluorescent lights on a spotless marble floor, the imported refrigerators, dishwashers and ovens at the new Beko store draw a steady stream of gawkers in a city where nearly everything is coated with grime. But few Afghans can afford such luxury appliances -- or the electricity to run them.

"A lot of people come in and they really, really want to buy these kinds of products," said Baki Karasu, 41, who opened the store this fall. "But they don't have any power. If they have a big generator, they can buy. But if they don't, they have to wait for the government to provide the electricity."

Four years after the ouster of the Taliban, as another frigid winter begins, most residents of the Afghan capital are without power, except for five hours every second or third night. Although hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid have been spent to fix the problem, conditions have worsened in the past year as improvements have lagged and the population surges. Government officials say things will not noticeably improve until at least 2008, when new power lines are to be completed.

The gulf between the wealthy few and the literally powerless majority is especially striking now, as pockets of opulence sprout across the impoverished capital of 4 million after a quarter-century of war that left much of the city in ruins. Downtown, there is a glittering new shopping mall as well as a five-star hotel where regular rooms go for $250 a night and the Presidential Suite fetches $1,200.

There is also Sherpur, a central neighborhood that once contained an army barracks surrounded by poor squatters' huts. Two years ago, it was taken over by government officials. The huts were razed and the land parceled out to people with money and connections. Now, dozens of mansions are being built there.

Unlike typical Afghan homes, which have muted colors, simple materials and shrouded windows, the new houses seem designed to attract attention with vivid tiles, elaborate balconies and ornate columns. A 10-foot-high eagle statue perches on one roof, wings outstretched.

Such displays have elicited both admiration and resentment from ordinary Afghans, many of whom believe they have been financed through ill-gotten means, including the lucrative opium poppy trade, misuse of aid funds and schemes controlled by former militia leaders who still wield power in many regions.

"These homes make the city look beautiful, but the people here got their money not from the legal way," observed Zarifullah Hayatullah, 18, a student who was riding his bike past a row of mansions one recent day. "All the well-off people can live here -- especially the commanders who got their money through drugs."

Across the city, in a dilapidated district called Daimazang, live those on the dark side of Afghanistan's economic fortunes. Although the country's gross domestic product has doubled since 2001, roughly 30 percent of the population is unemployed, and 37 percent need donated food to survive, according to statistics compiled by the Brookings Institution in Washington. In Daimazang, 65 families have taken up makeshift residence in the carcasses of former government office buildings that were destroyed by rocket attacks in the civil war of the 1990s. Most were refugees in Pakistan and Iran who returned home after 2001, lured by promises of jobs and land that never materialized.

Each family has partitioned off a 10-foot-square space with mud-brick walls on all sides. Several have strung plastic tarps for protection from the rain and snow, but many have nothing to separate themselves from the sky. There is no electricity and no firewood, either; the price of wood has doubled to about $1 for 12 pounds, far more than they can pay.

"We just have a blanket," said Hazrat Gul, 45, who makes $4 a day breaking stones for construction in the mountains that surround Kabul. "During the night, we get under the blanket and we try to sleep."

Mohammed Agha, a father of five who works as a bicycle mechanic, said he was afraid not everyone in the community would survive the winter. In the past few months, two children have died. "All of the children are suffering. They are all coughing from pneumonia," said Agha, his own voice hoarse with the disease.

None of the residents interviewed said they had been to the new mall or hotel downtown, but Qurban, a 56-year-old cabdriver who uses only one name, said he had seen them many times from the outside.

"I tried to go in, but they wouldn't allow me," Qurban said, pointing to his tattered sweater and dusty jacket. "These buildings are not for poor people like me. These buildings are for the rich people and the ministers. It's for them. It's not for us."

The Daimazang residents said officials had come several times and told them they must leave because the government wants to rebuild the old offices, which belonged to the Ministry of Energy. Gulla Jan Hairan, the ministry's director of planning, said rehabilitating damaged and destroyed facilities has been a top priority over the past four years. When the Taliban abandoned Afghanistan in 2001, he said, most of the cities were "almost completely dark" after years of war and neglect.

Since then, Hairan said, there has been major progress in cities such as Herat, Mazar-e Sharif and Kunduz, which forged agreements with neighboring Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to import energy. But he conceded that Kabul has been a much tougher challenge.

The Hindu Kush mountain range that rises north of Kabul cuts off the capital from energy-rich neighbors to the north and west. Rivers flow down vigorously from those mountains in the spring, but they tend to dry up in the late summer and fall, leaving a current too weak to effectively generate hydroelectric power for the winter.

Over the past year, Hairan said, the relative supply of electricity for homes in Kabul has gone down because, despite the rehabilitation of several power plants, the infrastructure still cannot keep up with the massive influx of new residents.

"If we do not increase the generating capacity and we continue to connect more homes and buildings, it's certain that the conditions will get worse next year," he said.

Energy experts here said the situation would not improve until October 2008, when power lines from Uzbekistan, now being laid across the snow-capped Hindu Kush, are expected to be completed.

One short-term solution would be to set up a network of diesel-powered generators. But Hairan said the high cost of fuel makes that idea impractical and foreign donors, who have already committed nearly a billion dollars toward improving the public power supply, seem reluctant to provide even more.

Diesel generators are exactly what keep the lights on in the new Kabul City Centre Mall, the luxury Serena Hotel and the mansions of Sherpur. A one-kilowatt generator costs at least $80, and diesel fuel costs about $4 per gallon. Inside Kabul City Centre, power runs 24 hours a day, keeping the escalators running, the coffee brewing and the temperature comfortable.

One recent day, several mall-goers said they were there only to escape the near-freezing weather outside. Wahid Afshar, 25, jobless since he returned from Iran this year, said he was visiting the mall just to pass the time and dream.

"It's chic and modern and beautiful," he said. "But I can't afford to buy anything."

From Kabul to a Key Counterterror Role
By Nora Boustany The Washington Post Friday, December 9, 2005; A22
U rsula Mueller always wanted to be a diplomat, a writer or an inventor.

"I knew very early this is what I wanted to do. I think I have done all three of them," she said about her childhood ambitions and career in the German foreign service.

In 1995, Mueller became Germany's first ombudsman for promoting professional women at the Foreign Ministry, a position she held for six years. She has written two books, including "Nimble, Skilled and Dispatched," which was published in 2000. And through her 25 years as a diplomat, she has had to be quite inventive in dealing with unusual circumstances.

At 48, she is now the top female diplomat at the German Embassy here, in charge of U.S.-German cooperation on Afghanistan and the politics of that traditionally male dominion of counterterrorism.

Mueller arrived in Washington in mid-2001 and began settling in as an economics counselor at the embassy. Weeks later, on Sept. 11, she looked out of her office window on Reservoir Road NW and saw smoke billowing from the Pentagon. She had no idea that the calamity would lead her to the Afghan capital.

Joschka Fischer , then foreign minister, requested her presence at the first meetings in Germany on the Afghan reconstruction issue in early December 2001. A few weeks later, she was in Kabul, unlocking the gates of the German chancery after a 23-year closure.

With the shelves in her Washington apartment newly assembled and her piano perfectly tuned, Mueller had to abandon all creature comforts for a bulletproof vest, a sleeping bag, a Swiss army knife and a kerosene burner. As she was packing, she also threw in a few candles and Christmas stollen, a sweet bread.

After arriving in Kabul, she needed to quickly find a Dari interpreter. The first woman who appeared at the gate was invited in and offered the job. Within hours, Mueller was on her way to becoming an ardent advocate for women in post-conflict Afghanistan.

With donations she had collected at a farewell party in Washington, Mueller bought three sewing machines for Afghan women to use in an income-generating project. The women first made long coats for themselves to replace the all-encompassing burqas they had been forced to wear. Then they made clothing to sell.

Mueller launched schools for girls, literacy classes and vocational projects for women, and suggested including women in training at the police academy.

"There was nothing more rewarding than seeing in Afghan women's eyes that joy, their expectations just because I was there for a little time, at that particular place," she said.

On Christmas Eve 2001, she discovered an old grand piano in a corner of the Kabul residence. She summoned the skeleton staff and security guards to a meal and to sing carols, and together they belted out verses of "O Tannenbaum" and "Stille Nacht." The instrument was woefully out of tune, but holiday cheer prevailed, she said.

The German media dubbed her Fischer's "secret weapon."

"I learned the system," she said, her brown eyes darting back and forth under her perfectly shaped brows and cropped hair. Her crisp white shirt and trim black jacket contrasted with a shiny silk scarf, opera-length pearls and angular gold jewelry.

While serving as ombudsman, Mueller left her mark on the Foreign Ministry. She never supported quotas but believed in mentoring women fresh out of college and helping them move up the career ladder, "not only in Burundi and Rwanda but in more strategic positions in larger embassies."

Mueller had a "standing invitation" from Fischer to accompany him on trips to gather ideas for training women in the foreign service for hardship postings. She visited Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia, among other countries. Her advice to women: "Never give up, work harder, keep your sense of humor. Be persistent, do it all with respect," a strategy she learned while coaxing Foreign Ministry officials to institute change.

"I always looked for arguments that would show how new practices would be in their best interest," she said. "Women still call me for advice, and it is important to help one another. Not all women do."

Meuller, who has a transatlantic significant other -- a professor in Germany -- became so good at helping women and giving them advice that she inadvertently became the unofficial ombudsman for men who wanted to make time for their families without appearing meek or lacking in ambition.

One day, she received a call in Berlin from a European Union specialist who wanted to take a part-time position or leave his job to take care of his three children, so his wife could return to the foreign service. But he was at a loss about how to discuss the issue with his boss.

"Those men suffer a lot, they miss out on so much. The system can be so brutal, and they are afraid they would be at a disadvantage later," she said. "Tell him you could be trendsetter in the Foreign Ministry, I advised. Be accommodating. Agree to work three days a week or whatever suits your superior best."

It set a precedent, and now German foreign service officers do not hesitate to take paternity leave.

Dutch postpone Afghanistan troop decision -sources
09 Dec 2005
THE HAGUE, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The Netherlands postponed a decision on whether to send extra troops for peacekeeping tasks to Afghanistan, sources close to the cabinet said on Friday.

The sources said the Dutch cabinet would consider the issue again on Dec. 19. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will address the issue at a press conference later on Friday.

Dutch concerns have mounted in recent weeks about the plans to send 1,100 extra troops to the more dangerous south of Afghanistan along with forces from Britain and Canada, allowing the U.S.-led coalition to cut the size of its operation there.

Some 600 Dutch troops are already serving in Afghanistan.

Norway to contribute F-16 fighter jets to NATO-led force in Afghanistan
via News From Russia 16:15 2005-12-09
Norway will contribute F-16 fighter jets to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan in an effort to improve security for the peacekeepers, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Friday. Stoltenberg said Norway is also planning to send more soldiers to the NATO-led force, which now includes more than 9,000 troops, including about 330 Norwegians, and is expected to add up to 6,000 more as it expands operations into volatile southern Afghanistan next year.

"So far we have decided to increase our presence by deploying F-16 fighters," Stoltenberg told a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai following their meeting.

He said the fighter jets, to be deployed early next year, would "create security" for the peacekeepers. "We need the fighter planes to make it easier for the forces on he ground to do their job," he said.

Stoltenberg did not say how many F-16s Norway would contribute. Norway's foreign minister said last month that the country would send three or four of the planes to Afghanistan, reports the AP.

Norway reiterates support for rebuilding post-war Afghanistan
KABUL, Dec. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Friday reiterated his government's full commitment in the rebuilding process of the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

"Our cooperation with Afghanistan has a long-term perspective. We are going to cooperate with you. We do that because we believe in the same values as you do. We believe in freedom, democracy and respect human rights," Jens Stoltenberg told a joint press conference after meeting President Hamid Karzai at the Afghan Presidential palace.

The northern European country has provided 280 million US dollars for the rebuilding process of the war-shattered Afghanistan since 2002.

Some 330 Norwegian soldiers have also been serving in Afghanistan under the flag of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US-dominated coalition troops in the post-Taliban nation.

Norway will also contribute five F-16 jet fighters to the NATO-led multinational force early next year to boost stabilizing operations in the war-ravaged country.

Stoltenberg also disclosed that his government would increase its military presence in Afghanistan.

"We are planning to increase the number of our soldiers and so far we are deciding to increase our presence by deploying F-16 fighters in Afghanistan," he added.

Earlier, he held talks with President Karzai and exchanged views on matters pertaining mutual interests including the situation in Afghanistan and expansion of NATO to the country.

Afghan President for his part termed Norway as a close friend of Afghanistan and expressed his gratitude for its contribution inthe reconstruction process of his nation.

NATO countries have agreed to send additional 6,000 troops and increase the military presence of western alliance from some 9,000to 15,000 by next year.

Afghan Daily Report
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 9 December 2005
NATO Expands ISAF Mission In Afghanistan
NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on 8 December formally endorsed an expansion of NATO's peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, international news agencies reported. The revised operational plan for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) provides strategic guidance for increased NATO support to the Afghan government in extending its authority and influence across the country, according to a NATO statement issued on 8 December. The next stage of this plan will be the expansion of ISAF to southern Afghanistan in 2006. The plan also calls for the establishment of four additional Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). At present, ISAF has about 9,000 troops providing security assistance in half of Afghanistan's territory, with nine PRTs in northern and western Afghanistan. As part of the expansion to southern Afghanistan, NATO will deploy up to an additional 6,000 personnel to Afghanistan. Afghan government sources are reportedly uncertain whether NATO has the military skills and political will to engage in active combat in restive southern Afghanistan. AT

Members Of Afghan Parliament Selected By President Approved

The UN-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body has approved Afghan President Hamid Karzai's appointees for the 34 seats of the Council of Elders (Meshrano Jirga) in the Afghan National Assembly, the official Bakhtar News Agency reported on 8 December. Two-thirds of the members of the Council of Elders were elected from among the previously elected members of the People's Council (Wolesi Jirga) and Karzai appointed the remaining one-third of the 102-member upper house (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 November 2005). The National Assembly is set to begin its work on 19 December. AT

Afghan Leader Urges Muslims To Fight Terrorism

Addressing the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit of heads of state in Mecca on 7 December, President Karzai said that unfortunately among the Muslims a small group of people are abusing the religion of Islam for their own gains, Bakhtar News Agency reported on 8 December. However, without confronting terrorism, which in Afghanistan is causing death and destruction, Muslim countries cannot solve this problem, he said. "We should show the true face of Islam, which insists on friendship, peace, and living together, to the world," Karzai told the summit, Pajhwak Afghan News reported on 7 December. AT

Protesters Burn House Of Accused Killer Of Afghan Parliamentarian

A mob in Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman Province, east of Kabul, on 8 December set fire to the house of the alleged killer of Esmatullah Mohabat, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press reported. Mohabat, an elected member of the People's Council, was gunned down in Mehtarlam on 4 December (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 December 2005). At the time, a man identified as Sardar, whose relationship with Mohabat remains unclear, was implicated in his killing. Mohabat was a warlord in Laghman and was captured after clashing with U.S. forces in neighboring Nangarhar Province in 2004. He spent time in U.S. detention before being released a few months prior to the September elections in which he won one of four seats allocated for Laghman. Mohabat participated in the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration program. The details of the case are still unclear. President Karzai has appointed a commission to investigated Mohabat's killing, Bakhtar News Agency reported on 8 December. AT

Poll: Four Years After the Fall of the Taliban, Afghans Optimistic About the Future
ABC News 12/08/2005 By Gary Langer
Despite Deep Challenges in Daily Life, Afghans Express a Positive Outlook
Four years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghans express both vast support for the changes that have shaken their country and remarkable optimism for the future, despite the deep challenges they face in economic opportunity, security and basic services alike.

An ABC News poll in Afghanistan - the first national survey there sponsored by a news organization - underscores those challenges in a unique portrait of the lives of ordinary Afghans. Poverty is deep, medical care and other basic services lacking, and infrastructure minimal. Nearly six in 10 have no electricity in their homes, and just 3 percent have it around the clock. Seven in 10 Afghan adults have no more than an elementary education; half have no schooling whatsoever. Half have household incomes under $500 a year.

Yet despite these and other deprivations, 77 percent of Afghans say their country is headed in the right direction - compared with 30 percent in the vastly better-off United States. Ninety-one percent prefer the current Afghan government to the Taliban regime, and 87 percent call the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban good for their country. Osama bin Laden, for his part, is as unpopular as the Taliban; nine in 10 view him unfavorably.

Progress fuels these views: Despite the country's continued problems, 85 percent of Afghans say living conditions there are better now than they were under the Taliban. Eighty percent cite improved freedom to express political views. And 75 percent say their security from crime and violence has improved as well. After decades of oppression and war, many Afghans see a better life.

More can be done; most say each of these is better, but not "much" better, than under the Taliban. And in a fourth crucial area - jobs and economic opportunity - progress is badly lacking: In this basic building block, just 39 percent see improvement.

In a separate measure, Afghans by nearly 2-1, 64 percent to 34 percent, say their own household's financial situation is bad (most Americans, by contrast, say theirs is good.). Yet that economic discomfort has not produced political dissatisfaction: Ratings of President Hamid Karzai, the current government and the newly elected parliament are all high.

Better hopes for the future are a likely reason. This poll finds broad expectations - expressed by two-thirds of Afghans - that life overall will improve in the year ahead. That optimism, while encouraging, also carries the danger of discontent if those expectations go unmet.

This survey was conducted for ABC News by Charney Research of New York with fieldwork by the Afghan Center for Social and Opinion Research in Kabul. Trained Afghan researchers interviewed a randomly selected sample of 1,039 adults across the country.

Concerns - Some results may raise particular concerns. One is that, despite broadly favorable views of the United States, three in 10 Afghans say attacks against U.S. forces can be justified. There are about 18,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, with more than 250 killed to date - including nearly twice as many in 2005 as in any previous year.

Acceptability of attacks on U.S. forces spikes among disaffected and socially conservative Afghans, who account for about 15 percent of the population. In this group, just 29 percent say such attacks cannot be justified, compared with 60 percent of all Afghans.

At the same time, even among all Afghans, 30 percent say such attacks can be justified. That may reflect social mores in a country where violence is not an uncommon means of settling disputes, and perhaps specific grievances in areas where administrative or legal remedies are lacking.

In another result that may give pause, one in four Afghans say there are circumstances in which it's acceptable to grow poppies for opium production, a trade that's soared since the Taliban were ousted. Acceptance of poppy farming - if no alternative source of income is available - reaches 41 percent in the highest opium-producing provinces as identified by the United Nations last year. And acceptability soars in the two provinces that historically have been the country's centers of poppy cultivation, Nangarhar in the East and Helmand in the West. (While cultivation in Nangarhar reportedly is down sharply this year, it appears that attitudes that tolerate it have not followed.)

Many fewer Afghans - just five percent - say poppy cultivation is acceptable in all cases; more say, rather, that it's acceptable only if no alternatives are available. That suggests that the opium trade may be vulnerable, to the extent other income-earning opportunities - such as the cultivation of alternative crops - can be provided in its place. But it won't be easy: The United Nations estimates that one in 10 Afghans is involved in cultivating opium poppies.

The survey also finds substantial suspicion of cheating in the recent parliamentary elections. Nearly half of Afghans, 46 percent, believe there was vote buying, intimidation of voters or cheating in the vote count in their area. Still, 77 percent are confident nonetheless that the parliament will work for the benefit of the people, although far fewer, 34 percent, are "very" confident that will be the case.

In terms of threats the country faces, most-cited is the Taliban, an insurgent group since it was ousted with the fall of Kandahar on Dec. 7, 2001. Forty-one percent call the Taliban the biggest danger to Afghanistan, 28 percent cite drug traffickers and 22 percent say it's local warlords. (The program to disarm those warlords enjoys vast popular support, detailed below.)
Greatest Danger to Afghanistan - Taliban 41% Drug Traffickers 28 Warlords 22 U.S. 4 Current Afghanistan Govt. 2

Women - The survey also finds broad majority support for women's rights in Afghan society, albeit, as in other readings, with more modest strength of commitment behind it. Nine in 10 Afghans support girls' education and women voting, three-quarters support women holding jobs and two-thirds support women holding government office - remarkable in a country where the Taliban so thoroughly repressed such rights. Perhaps surprisingly, support for most of these is nearly as high among men as it is among women.

At the same time, while 89 percent of Afghans support women voting, fewer, 66 percent, strongly support this right. And only about four in 10 "strongly" support women taking jobs outside the home or holding government office. Even among Afghan women, fewer than half strongly support women working outside the home or holding government office. Personal experience may be a factor: Just 14 percent of Afghan women are employed, compared with about 60 percent of women in the United States.

There is equivocation on some of these issues among Afghan women themselves; fewer than half strongly support women working outside the home or holding government office. Personal experience may be a factor: Just 14 percent of Afghan women are employed, compared with about 60 percent of women in the United States.

There also are ethnic and regional differences, with support for women's rights much lower among Afghanistan's Pashtun population, Sunni Muslims who are dominant in the South and East of the country. Also, support for women holding political office, in particular, is much weaker in rural as opposed to urban areas, and weakest among rural men.

Current Conditions - Afghans give positive reports to several aspects of their daily lives: Eighty-three percent rate their overall living conditions positively, and ratings are nearly as high both for local schools and the availability of food. Just more than seven in 10 likewise say their security from crime and violence is good. In each of these, though, far fewer - ranging from just 15 percent to 28 percent - say things are "very" good.

Fewer overall, 59 percent, say clean water is readily available, and other basic conditions - medical care, jobs and economic opportunity, roads and bridges and power supply - are rated far worse.

There are significant differences in conditions across the country. Security is better in urban areas (of which the largest by far is Kabul, where about one in seven Afghan adults live); 40 percent in urban areas describe their security as "very good," compared with 24 percent in rural areas.

Both security and economic conditions are notably worse in the Southwest and East (where the Taliban have been active) than elsewhere. And services seem weakest in the Northwest, where fewer than two in 10 report having clean water, good medical care or good roads, bridges and other infrastructure. In Kabul, just 18 percent lack any electrical power; that soars to more than two-thirds in the North and East.

Security - Security is especially critical in a country so long wracked by war. When the 77 percent of Afghans who say the country is headed in the right direction are asked in an open-ended question why they feel that way, three related answers dominate: security, peace or the end of war, and disarmament.

Mentions of freedom, democracy and reconstruction follow; women in particular mention freedom for women, who were repressed under the Taliban regime: Twenty percent of women (compared with 4 percent of men) cite freedom for women as a reason they say the country's going in the right direction.

Similarly, when asked the single most important priority for the country, 40 percent of Afghans say security from crime and violence remains paramount. That's followed fairly closely by creating jobs and economic opportunities, then much more distantly by the need for infrastructure improvements. When first- and second-highest priorities are combined, however, these rank about evenly. There's much to do.

Another _expression of the importance of security comes in support for the country's "DDR" - disarmament, demobilization and reintegration - program. Largely Japanese-funded, the program is said to have disarmed 70,000 fighters under local warlords, offering them vocational training in exchange for their weapons. Not only do 95 percent of Afghans support the program, but 72 percent "strongly" support it, by far the highest level of strong support for any program, individual or entity measured in this survey.

Views of the United States - Eighty-three percent of Afghans express a favorable opinion of the United States overall, similar to the 87 percent who call the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban a good thing. That compares to favorable ratings of a mere 8 percent for the Taliban, and 5 percent for bin Laden. People who are unhappy with their local living conditions are twice as likely to have an unfavorable opinion of the United States.

Support for the United States is less than full-throated. Far fewer, 24 percent, regard it "very" favorably. And while 68 percent rate the work of the United States in Afghanistan positively, that's well below the ratings given to Karzai, the United Nations or the present Afghan government (83 percent, 82 percent and 80 percent positive, respectively).

Still, an 83 percent favorable rating for the United States, and a 68 percent positive work performance rating, are remarkable - in sharp contrast to negative views of the United States in many other Muslim nations. (Another contrast is Karzai's job rating - 83 percent positive - compared with President Bush's in the United States, where 39 percent of Americans approved in the last ABC News/Washington Post poll.)

Given the Afghan public's security concerns - and distaste for the Taliban - there is little demand for prompt U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Just 8 percent say the United States should leave now, and another 6 percent say it should withdraw within the next year. The most common answer by far: Sixty-five percent say U.S. forces should leave Afghanistan "only after security is restored."

Shiite and Sunni - Notable in this survey is the similarity of views between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, the two doctrinal groups so sharply at odds in Iraq. As in most of the Arab world, Sunnis dominate in Afghanistan - 85 percent of the population is Sunni (including nearly all members of the Pashtun and Tajik ethnic groups) while 15 percent is Shiite (including nearly all ethnic Hazaras).

There are differences: Thirty-two percent of Sunnis say attacks on U.S. forces can be justified, compared with 19 percent of the Shiite minority. And 51 percent of Shiites describe the Taliban (a Sunni group) as the biggest danger facing the country, compared with a (still high) 39 percent of Sunnis.

But few Sunnis or Shiites alike view the Taliban favorably (9 percent and 6 percent, respectively). Their ratings on improved conditions are similar, as are their expectations for the future and their views on Karzai, the current Afghan government, the United Nations, the United States, the "DDR" disarmament program and women's rights.

Work and Possessions - A simple accounting of household possessions tells volumes about life in Afghanistan. Barely one in 10 households has a refrigerator or a car. Three in 10 have a mobile phone; almost no one has a landline telephone. Nearly everyone has a radio, but barely four in 10 have a TV. About half own a work animal.

Farming is the main occupation; nearly a third of working Afghans are farmers or farm laborers. As befits the low levels of education, illiteracy is high, 42 percent.

The population is largely rural, with 79 percent of Afghans residing in small villages. And it's a young country, with a median age (calculated among adults only) of 32 years, compared with 44 in the United States.

Methodology - This survey was conducted for ABC News by Charney Research of New York, with fieldwork by the Afghan Center for Social and Opinion Research in Kabul. Interviews were conducted in person, in Dari or Pashto, among a random national sample of 1,039 adults from Oct. 8-18, 2005. Sampling points were selected at random in 31 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, with households selected by random route/random interval procedures. The results have a 3.5-point error margin.