Twenty-Six Days and Counting Until Election Day in Chaotic Afghanistan

With only twenty-six days left before scheduled democratic elections in Afghanistan, the country erupted in bloodshed this week. Angry mobs loyal to warlord Ismail Khan, recently ousted from power by President Hamid Karzai, "burned half a dozen international aid compounds, looted their contents, and stoned national army troops sent to keep order." The United Nations evacuated 38 foreign employees from Herat after the mob turned "international aid facilities into smoldering, looted ruins." Factional fighting among warlords remains a serious security issue. The Taliban and al Qaeda forces have also been carrying out attacks in the country in an attempt to disrupt elections on Oct. 9. Despite his pledge to assure democracy, however, President Bush pulled time, money and attention from securing Afghanistan to focus on the war in Iraq. [more ]