Sam Zarifi Quotes (12 Quotes)

The vigilantes operate completely outside the law, and this situation places civilians more deeply in the path of danger.

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

Voters had to choose between the unknown and the notorious.

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.

The Afghan people need a government that is functional and accountable. The warlords offer neither.

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.

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.

There are several districts, particularly in southern Afghanistan, where the government doesn't even really exist.

There's a part of Afghanistan where there's overt violence, and there's a part where there's more subtle intimidation. That creates an obstacle for people who are dedicated to taking part in the election.

There's a growing feeling of an opportunity lost.