this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Saganastic@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

It's true. Whether you agree with the actions of the US abroad or not, the US did legitimately try to install a free and fair democratic government in Afghanistan. And it was in place for 20 years - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_Afghanistan.

[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml -3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Your own source contradicts your claims:

Prior to the 2021 overthrow of the government by the Taliban, Afghanistan had been consistently ranked as a below-average democracy by U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House. According to their yearly survey Freedom in the World, Afghanistan scored only 27 points in 2019 to 2021 on a 100-point scale, falling in the category of "not free countries."

In 2010, a report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime indicated that bribery consumed approximately 23% of the GDP of Afghanistan.[8] This corruption was present in the highest levels of government, with the New Kabul Bank scandal in which a small number of political elites, including cabinet ministers, had embezzled nearly $1 billion through fraudulent loan schemes.[9][10]

While the first presidential election of the republic in 2004 was relatively peaceful, the following 2009 presidential election was hampered by significant flaws, including a lack of security, low voter turnout, and widespread electoral fraud.[11]

All this is after being chartiable and not including the 20% voter turnout in 2021 since that was the tail end of that epoch.

But I bet you'll blame all these shortcomings on the Afghans.

[–] Saganastic@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Oof, that'll teach me to briefly skim a source before posting. I wasn't going to blame anyone, because I clearly don't know enough about the situation. But thanks for putting words in my mouth.

[–] Pseu@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Man, this was a great comment until the last sentence. . .

[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml -1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I made the mistake of assuming they read the article before sharing it