Why Afghan intellectuals live in national despair

Afghanistan’s president, Mr Hamid Karzai has many faces, like the colors of his billowing chapan. One shines in his antipathy towards Afghan intelligentsia and another in his indissoluble bond with the Afghan warlords. His election campaign exposes this rancor more explicitly nowadays when he is using his usual tactics— intimidation, bribery and back door dealings—to secure himself a second term in the upcoming election and help warlords and his siblings hold on to ill-gotten wealth and power. The security situation in the south, east and west of the country is worsening on a daily basis where a surging war is going on between the US-led Western forces and the Taliban insurgents. These are the Pashtun dominated areas, where Karzai is becoming increasingly unpopular.