| What do they think he's been doing... carefully? |
| But it isn't good enough ... |
 A leading rights group is urging Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sideline warlords implicated in rights abuses and strengthen the rule of law when he announces a new cabinet. Mr Karzai will be sworn in for his first elected term, which will run for five years, next week. Human Rights Watch also urges Mr Karzai to be more forceful in seeking greater assistance from the United States and NATO to improve security ahead of April parliamentary elections. In an open letter, the New York-based group calls on Mr Karzai to also take up the issue of US military abuses in the battle against Islamic militants and to take stronger action to promote women's rights.
Mr Karzai, who has been interim President since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001, is to be inaugurated on Tuesday in Kabul. The Government says he is expected to announce his new cabinet within a week of the inauguration, which is to be attended by Vice President Dick Cheney. "This is President Karzai's big chance," Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's executive director for Asia, said. "He has a popular mandate from the Afghan people. He should use it to end impunity and warlord rule, now and forever."
The rights group praises Mr Karzai's efforts to sideline warlords in his previous administration. However, it says there is an urgent need for him to create a commission to vet all senior government posts and exclude those guilty of rights abuses. The Government has given few clues about its choices for the new cabinet. The panel's make-up is seen as crucial to determining whether Afghanistan can chart a course of reform away from warlordism and weak central control, and whether it can shape an economy that is not dominated by illicit drugs.
| Boy, this stuff is all so simple when you don't have to worry about the side effects of anything you do. |
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