“President Obama has said that our aspirations should be realistic. We are not going to turn one of the poorest countries in the world, that was plunged into 30 years of war, into an advanced, industrialized, Western-style democracy. What we want to achieve is Afghanistan's capacity to secure and govern itself.” WorldWantShouldYearsSaidWarCountryTurnsPresidentDemocracyAchieveStyleCapacityWesternSecureAspirationRealisticAfghanistanPresident ObamaPoorest Author:David Petraeus
“The United States can't impose democracies. We can't impose our will. The Russians found that out in Afghanistan.” StatesFoundUnitedUnited StatesDemocracyAfghanistan Author:Chuck Hagel
“We have to be realistic about what we can achieve in Afghanistan. The notion that the United States can build a Western-style democracy there is a myth” StatesUnitedUnited StatesDemocracyAchieveStyleWesternNotionMythRealisticAfghanistan Author:Barbara Boxer
“Iraq and Afghanistan are now democracies and they are allies in the cause of freedom and peace.” CausesDemocracyIraqAlliesAfghanistanFreedom And Peace Author:George W. Bush
“In Afghanistan, there is a plan to build democracy; hundreds of thousands of troops are protecting it. There is a plan to rebuild and reconstruct there. But many thousands of Americans die from violence and poverty every year and we don't have a plan for reconstruction at home.” YearsHomeDiesPovertyDemocracyViolencePlansAfghanistanTroopsReconstruction Author:Jesse Jackson
“We are not going to be able to rebuild Afghanistan into a Jeffersonian democracy.” AbleDemocracyAfghanistan Author:Barack Obama
“Take the US. Women were not even able to vote until 90 ago, at about the same time they gained the right in Afghanistan. Rights of former slaves were very limited until the 1960s, and in some ways still are. In these and other domains there has been progress in democracy, though still seriously flawed. In other dimensions - the control of concentrated wealth over the political process, for example, things have gotten much worse in recent years. And there is much more, in both directions.” WayYearsHas BeensStillsAblePoliticalProcessWealthDemocracyRightsProgressExampleVoteSlaveFormerDimensionsAfghanistanDomainFlawed1960s Author:Noam Chomsky