Afghans hope 'Obama will help us'
By NBC News' Iqbal Sapand
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – There were no all night parties or victory celebrations in Kabul to celebrate Barack Obama's win, but for Afghans here an Obama presidency raises expectations and for many brings new hopes.
President Hamid Karzai wasted no time congratulating the president-elect. But, he also used the opportunity to send a strong message that Afghans can no longer tolerate the high toll of civilian casualties from indiscriminate bombings by U.S. and NATO forces. "We cannot win the fight against terrorism with airstrikes," Karzai said. "This is my first demand of the new president of the United States – to put an end to civilian casualties."
Karzai was referring to airstrikes Tuesday against the Taliban in the southern province of Kandahar which hit a wedding party and killed a number of civilians.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef , was quick to condemn the United States. "You see," Yousef said, "his (Obama's) victory was welcomed with more innocent people losing their lives." "Obama has already said he will send even more troops to Afghanistan," Yousef said. "More troops will mean more innocent people dying; it is not the solution for Afghanistan."
Negotiations with the Taliban?
More and more Afghans think the only solution for Afghanistan is for the United States and the Karzai government to negotiate with the Taliban and end the war.
Ashraf Sharafat owns a vegetable store on Chicken Street, a main shopping area of Kabul. "Obama will have a different policy for Afghanistan," he said. "Bush was against negotiating with the Taliban and Mullah Omar so he could not solve our problems. "I think Obama will be different; he will negotiate," he said.
Addul Hakim inherited his carpet shop from his father. The family was once well-off from the carpet trade but Hakim, 65, complains that now the security situation in Kabul is so bad that everyone, especially foreigners, are too afraid of the kidnapping gangs to walk on the streets. He hasn't had one customer in weeks.
"I congratulate all America that Obama has won the election," he said. "Obama understands us because he is from a poor Muslim family like most Afghans and he will stop this war and give us security."
'Bush failed Afghanistan'
In the nearby clock shop, Ahmad Jalil felt the same. "There is no business because there is no security," he said. "Bush failed in Afghanistan because he could not win against the Taliban and give us security," Jalil said. "If Obama follows the same course as Bush, he will lose here too." "I think Obama has a different view about Afghanistan than Bush."
"Obama understands that Afghanistan today is as bad as before the American invasion," said Mohammed Sami a property dealer in Kabul. "I think he will analyze the situation here and quickly understand that the policy of the past seven years has been all wrong and needs to be changed – and changed quickly." he said.
Raihanullah Raihan, 34, lost family members during American airstrikes and is angry. He blames America for a failed policy in Afghanistan that has brought so much suffering to so many innocent people.
"We will always congratulate a new president of the United States," Raihan said. "But in reality, we have suffered so much because of America and now we hope that Obama will have the decency and the humanity to end this fighting and finish this war," he said. "Obama's father is Muslim so he will not be against Muslims like Bush and McCain." He added, "Obama will help us."
