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<title><![CDATA[Corruption destroying Afghanistan&#8217;s &#8216;democracy&#8217;]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/12/30/corruption-destroying-afghanistan-s-democracy.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[Galesburg.com: Galesburg.com: Chayes, who organized a co-op of Afghan men and women making skin care products from herbs and botanicals as an alternative to the opium poppy trade, wrote, &#8220;I hear from Westerners that corruption is intrinsic to Afghan culture, that we should not hold Afghans up to our standards. I hear that Afghanistan is a tribal place, that it has never been, and can&#8217;t be, governed. But that&#8217;s not what I hear from Afghans.&#8221; What they see instead, she said, is a restoration to power under President Hamid Karzai of the gunslinging, crooked warlords who were repudiated when the Taliban first started taking over vast parts of the country a few years after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. The &#8220;appalling behavior&#8221; of officials in the current government, including rampant bribery, extortion and violence, is a serious factor in the Taliban resurgence.]]></description>
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