Please, a request. These are contentious issues, but let's keep our comments reasonable, and free of insults to any and all of the parties involved.

I would not say that the Karzai regime oppressed the news anymore than I would say that the Harper regime oppressed the Ottawa Press Gallery . My news and my M.P.s tell me all is well + the time .

the only difference between current governments in Afghanistan, United States and Canada in terms of allowing free reporting is the fact that Afghan journalists face more real physical threats. Harper and the Bush administration it seems are always looking for short-term cover ups.

I've met Sabet. He seems like a fairly reasonable guy but I'm interested to know what were the contents of that report by Tolo TV that ticked him off. The video on the frontpage and the Tolo TV staff avoided mentioning anything about report in question and I'm thinking it was an outright lie or made up lie to make the government look bad.

Shafiq, I don't think the transcripts bear out the Attorney General's charge. But that's not really the point. If anyone has a complaint against a media outlet, there's a review commission where the issue can be judged. The law requires that avenue to be pursued - as it requires warrants to be sought and granted prior to searches and arrests in private facilities and residences.

As the country's top law man, Mr. Sabet is aware of this, but chose his own course of action, which resulted in the detention of seven journalists, several of whom were badly beaten by police.

Shafiq, I say this with all due respect and I mean it in a light-hearted way: There isn't a government in the world that needs the press or journalists to make them look bad.

Tolo TV would gain nothing by making up such a story. I am sure there is no shortage of stories to report on in Afghanistan, and I am sure the Tolo TV staff has no shortage of demands on their time and reporting efforts that would allow them the spare time to make up any kind of story. I sincerely doubt this is a made up story, lie or fabrication of any kind. Sabet may or may not be a fairly reasonable guy, but he wouldn't be the first person in power to be ticked off by a news story.

Shafiq, I think the reaction of governments is often more telling than the events themselves. We have seen in the USA it was the cover-up of Watergate that led to President Nixon's downfall. An informed public will tend to interpret a politician's reaction to events as a direct link to their underlying motives and intent. Let's hope that as democracy finds its own way there will be fertile ground for statesmen to arise who put the country first. These rare individuals will take great risks and not always be popular. They are not necessarily politicians, some are even known to work for the media.

Thanks Arthur. Abdul Jabar Sabit will go back to Canada to stay there with his family after he collected lots of money and built new house in Kabul, I reasure you, he is not professional attorny genral. The only thing president Karzia brought him to defeat and persue his polotical desidenats and he has done good job for him so far, in many ocasions, he created some probelms for the president....the president told the newsmen once, that he needs like Sabit people for some time.....This is our president he has no stratigic vision to lead this country and choose his team from talanted and professional people....he chooses on short time and then can remove them easily, after the guy performed his duties for the president and not for the country. This was the case for Abdul Jabar Sabit. President kept another similar one as the head of supreme court Fazlul Hadi Shinwari for a long time, he was not able to come to the office and he was coming by assistance of others...he has done nothing. Our legal system is very corrupt and the oldest one in the region, we need some chnages and to train our judges to have independent judeciray system as perncipal of demecoratic government....Sabit Will go, but to Canada to live thier....as the West is providing financial support to president Karzia corrupt government...nothing new for us and we pay the price like your tax payers in the west and of course your men and women in the frontline in the south, south west and estern regions in Afghansiatn to keep all the warlords, druglords and corrput officials in the governmenr.

Cheers,

Robin, you're really onto something in saying that the public interprets a politician's reactions to events or commentary as revealing of their concealed objectives. That's why reading the political tea leaves here in Kabul is so important, and also why this is a discouraging time for many Afghans, as Ahmad tells us.

The only good news is that pressure is rising from reform-minded people in this country. Figures from the past can only manipulate foreign aid and military support for a short while longer. Have a look at our next story here at skyreporter - further evidence that things are unravelling for people who abuse power.

Sabet is man who has mental problems. He is someone who wants to be on the front pages over all . he is CRAZY.

You are right Idrees jan, our attorny is not in good candition, he needs some psycologfical and physical treatment. His is very proud to announce Jehad on corruption, but has done nothing so far. He only tried to follow up some people in the north, he did not succeed. He is facist like his some other colleagues in president Karzia cabinet. He went to Mazar for invistigation and spent the time with Hekmatyar commnaders in the region and the following day announced that some key elements in the provincial adminsiteration are corrput based on Hekmatyar commnaders advices. The guy faced strong resistance and the governor challnaged him that he has polotical agendas behind all his invistigation/ prosecution attempts. We were thinking the Americans, British and Canadians will bring the right and professional people to lead us towards prosperity but it seems they are worse than our fomer warlords, who killed thousands and destroyed the country. They all came with empty pockets from the west and will go with the full ones.Like many otehrs have done. we understand that without the support of the mentioned countries it is not easy to get a key position in the government of Afghanistan, you must have someone to loby for you and get good recommnmedations from the top officails. Inside Karzia Chief of Staf team, all are the same corrupt and facist. They are working hardly to devide Afghanistan on ethnic basis and all trying the same. President Karzia team are misleading the west and international communities and not giving them the right picture of the situations inside Afghanistan. This government is leading us towards distruction and handing over it back to the terrorists and Taliban. The government is full of the Taliban and Hekmatyar elements and they are still defending from thier rights, like Salam Zaef, Mutawakel and others. Afghanistan parliemant is just by the name and this is not an starong legislative section of the government. President Karzia is leading us without any system with his peshawari colleagues and poloticians. You go inside all the ministiers and see what is going on. You see the talanted people, can not find the job and you must have links with the president team to get some thing.
Best Regards,

These are hard words, but are unfortunately typical of the comments of people on the street. What continues to disappoint this correspondent is that Mr. Karzai's western patrons, Messrs. Blair, Bush and Harper among them, are saying and doing virtually nothing to rein in the anti-democratic forces at work in Kabul.

This amounts not only to breaking faith with the Afghan people, but leaves British, Canadian and US soldiers critically exposed, too. Because unless a responsible, popularly-supported administration develops in Kabul, the only victory possible here - the rebuilding of the country by the population as a while - will be impossible. The Taliban could well succeed only by way of our own failures.

Thanks. This is a very good website and thanks for your consutructive articles. We have some priorities for Afghanistan, the fisrt and important one is security and sabality. We have Interior ministry, Defense Ministry and National Security Directorate, besiades all the three there is Afghanistan National Security Council, responsible for the national security of the country and to make policies, strategies, risk assessment, threat analysis adoptoin of the security plans for the whole country and the regions.It seems, the international communities are not doing enough to rebuild our security system and reform it based on our own need and requirments. Our police, including the minister himself is very weak and the defense ministry is required restructuring and more systamatic reform, training and logistical support. Our army is using the old weapanry and not good vehicles. Our intellegence services need more work to be effecient and professional, for the time being majaority of the NDS staff are former KHAD and KGB related staff, who were working for the russions. We need young people to be trained and give them the job. There are no good coordination between the above-mentioned security departments and thier performances is not monitored by a central adminsteration to evaluate and make chnages as the need arises. Security is very important and the people like to have it before every thing. Security is our executive power and needs to be strenthened and supported by all means possible. The Afghanistan Security Depratments should take the major inetiatives for operations to hunt the remnants of the Taliban and AlQaida. For the time being, the security systems are not coordinated and not active. There is no coordination, team work and professionalism. Our security officers are being posted based on personal relations and not the acadimic backgorund, qualification, expreinces and career related.

Please think about this impiortant issue, before we judge for the other issues.

Best,

thank you skyreporter good luck and wish you guys all the best and save from trorist and taliban. and thanks again that you bring Amarkhil back to his house and family.it is clear and clean that amarkhil is inocint he is a brave general and from famouse family in afghanistan he is the one general in ministry of interior and definse but know one help him not goverment not his good works but there is not any low to help like amarkhil peaple we proud of amarkhil. thanks full skyreporter and its staff

Someone asked earlier what the tolo story actually was. Well I have seen the report and also Sabet's conference the following day. The original story of Tolo was actually about a press conference or gathering where Sabet made comments and his own video clip was used saying "there is something wrong with the system". The next day, Sabet told the media in a press conference that he was talking about legal issues, so tolo should have realised that he meant the legal system, not the system as a whole. To be frank, most people would not have cared if he was talking about the legal, government or gardening system. In any event, Tolo used his own video clip, so I am not sure what Sabet can be complaining about. If he meant Legal system, he should have said so. As Arthur mentioned, the issue is the actions of a man who is one of the highest legal authorities in Afghanistan to trample on Constitutionally protected rights of its citizens and, more importantly, not be removed immediately.

A country which has been torn for the last 30 yrs with no education resides in an environment where sudden changes in different life style of the country sees a threat to the way they think and live.
Tell me how many times Afghan civilians complained against Tolo TV for ease broadcasting. They clearly demanded we are muslims and we showed be showsn a respect the way we live in our country without showing sex exotic orientation on TV.
2. How many times Tolo ignored and invaded afghan constitution?
3 How many compaints did Sabet receive against the TV?
This way or the other YOU CANNOT pervert their islamic value.
Now he had taken the chance and dealt with it the Afghan way.
MASOOD and his puppet former warlord and president Buhanidin Rabbani comited Genocides. Has any crime of their ever been reported?
----They are now Hereos now in Afghanistan!!!! FOR GOD SAKE
when a Pashto speaker talks in pashto because he loves is language, rather than Persian then he is Facist, gets quouted as Pakis (a usual Kabul insult). who knows. you know, you are the sky man.

Attorney General is a big dog of Karzai.

Hallelujah!! After many, many weeks of poking and prodding the media and several editorial journalists in my country (Canada), Marcus Gee of the Globe and Mail saw fit to put a small article together on the Tolo raid and the murder of two women journalists. It's obviously pulled from other sources and given a neutral spin but it did make the national media! This is a breakthrough and can and will be followed up. Perhaps we have begun to realize that there is a corner approaching and we should turn before we spin out of control.

There is also a commentary by Shauna Sylvester on the murders. Here are the links. Let's follow up!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070607....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070609....

Thanks Arthur for standing up for justice and unbiased reporting!

Sab, the above poster, is a Pashton. Karzai, Jabar Sabet(now known as the "mad bull" in Kabul) are both Pashtons. Every other name that this guy mentioned in his poisonous post are the names of non-Pashtons. A quick googling of those names will verify this fact.

What bothers me here is that this poster, Sab, visits this pro-free press website to forcefully and obstinately (typical way of his fellow Taliban clan) spread his ethnic venom at a time that the entire Afghan nation condemns Sabet for depriving them of the little joy and happiness that the Tulo TV had brought to their lives.

He, so viciously defiant, tries to create a "popular excuse" for the "mad bull" to militantly invade the unarmed Tulo TV reporters and journalists. Most of the readers and observers are well aware that Tolo TV is run by Afghans. It is an internally developed entertainment station. It is the suppressed voice of the otherwise moderate afghan population that had been mercilessly lashed by the islamist whip of the Taliban fascism. Its coverage is moderately in line with the popular spirit and consent of the Afghan masses. Hence the popular outrage at the bull's obnoxious assault on the TV's employees.

Sab, I just hope you dont get imported to Afghanistan as another "technocrat" to a position of power in much the same way Jabar Sabet, the mad bull, got imported from Canada. It is not your primitive and cruel mentality that bothers me. I am positive that many will share this concern after reading your fabricated lies (eg., Afghan civilians complained against Tolo TV for ease broadcasting). I can only imagine how much vice you are capable of spreading!!

Hi
well i just have something to say it. maybe it just make sense to me but anyways here we go.
Reading everyones comment about a democratic government in afghanistan( in kabul)lots of cons and pros around.
however, mr.kent had mention in his may 7 response that theser are the typical comments of people on the street and the rein of anti-democratic forces and only a popularly supported adminstration can succed.
the question is that will the Bush and his NATO alies make a safe afghanistan i highly doubt it.

Mr.Kent
since You been in afghanistan for many years i am sure you know alot more about common ppland there rections to each actions
how would you deffirentiate the current Hamid karzi govt backed by western supper powers from the previous regim of Dr.Najib Allah and their colloges Babrak Karmal and Noor Mohammad Taraki? and general peopl attitudes compared towards those USSR backed president and USA backed president Hamid Karzi?
considering that the USSR was killing childern destrying house and their war was against Mujahiden ( now the term Militants and Al-qida is used) where now similar circumstances take place but now the childern dies with friendly bombs??

Good for you, Sitara, for speaking the truth to the power.

The double-standard policies of NATO and its allies have not been lost on us. The NATO and its allies are adamant to acknowledge that there is a parallel between what the Soviets were doing in Afghanistan during their occupation and what they are doing in Afghanistan now. And all that in the name of "democracy" and "helping Afghans," too.

yap aziz i am damn right
it is just differnt name same game

Dear Mr Kent,

Thank you for what you are doing.
On my opinion, in Afghanistan we have to big problem:
1- From Afghanistan side, Lake of Leadership and their is note sufficient coordination and cooperation between official institution,

2- The intrenationa community, specially the anti terrorist allies, are trying to do a little job in Afghanistan but nothing inside of Pakistan.
This is a big mistake and all of us, we will pay high price for that.