17 Quotes by Sam Zarifi

These events give the lie to the king's repeated statements about his firm belief in democracy. If he wants his public commitments to fundamental liberties to be taken seriously, he has to show that his forces will respect basic human rights standards.

The success of the Conference should be judged by how much donors commit to do for the security and development of the Afghan people, not their own political agendas. The real measure of security and development in Afghanistan is not the number of foreign troops, but whether people feel safe enough to go to the market, to travel at night to seek medical care, or to send their children to school.

This election could have produced a parliament that really reflected the wants and needs of the Afghan people to be free from the rule of the gun . . . and for clinics, roads, schools and jobs. Instead what we may get is a parliament stocked with figures who represent the bloody past and who have very little legitimacy or competence to address the basic needs of the country.

The young people had been used as cooks, porters and medical personnel, but they had had military training and all were carrying grenades and socket bombs when they were picked up.

There's a growing feeling of an opportunity lost.

The US detain people, keep them for a while and then release them without charges. It sometimes take two months for the family to know where the detainees are.

The Maoists can voice their opposition to these elections, but that does not mean they are free to kill those who choose to participate.

The London Conference should not be an occasion for celebratory backslapping, but for rolling up sleeves and making up for past weak performance. The gains made by Afghans are not sustainable without greater international support and commitment.