Editorial: How responsive is the government?

Despite the presence of national and international forces, the overall security situation is deteriorating day by day. Actions by destructive elements have caused concern among our countrymen. It is clear to everyone that the destructive terrorist elements are trained, armed and then sent to Afghanistan from the Pakistan side of the border side by Islamabad’s Inter Services Intelligence, ISI. Documents and confessions from detained terrorists indicate that our enemies do not want to see a developed and stable Afghanistan. It is thing that we blame foreigners for their heavy involvement in abductions, unrest and suicide bombings. But the question here is why the international forces equipped with modern weapons and our Afghan National Army troops are so weak in the face of destructive forces, such that terrorists are able to come even to the capital and carry out suicide attacks. And why can the communities along on the Afghan-Pakistani border, where there are a lot of young men with guns, not stop the terrorists’ infiltration? Or do they not want to stop them, because they do not support the government? We have achieved some success over the past four years in some areas, but no attention has been paid to the people. People are upset with the government, because it has not been able to improve their living conditions, and they have started to distrust it. Afghans in districts and villages complain that the government and the national assembly are unable to sort out their problems. The rift between government and people is getting wider day by day, and this has paved the way for terrorists to come right to the heart of the country to carry out destructive acts. Yes, we blame Pakistan’s ISI for the unrest, but on the other hand, the government must gauge the extent to which people are happy and satisfied.