Editorial: Test of freedom in Afghanistan

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 | 6:51 a.m.

Even after the U.S. military defeated the Taliban in late 2001, paving the way for a democratically elected government in Afghanistan, most observers at the time didn't believe a Western-style democracy would quickly emerge. A case involving Abdul Rahman, who had been facing the prospect of the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity, shows just how far Afghanistan is from being a nation where the most basic of freedoms are protected.

U.S. and U.N. officials said Monday that Rahman - whose imprisonment stirred protests from Western democracies - will be freed. Nonetheless, it is an ominous sign that religious zealotry still has such a grip on Afghanistan. Muslim clerics have vowed to hunt Rahman down and kill him if he is freed.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a moderate who has the support of the West, has been placed in a difficult position. Although he is president, the reality is that Karzai doesn't have the kind of authority he needs to truly govern that country - warlords and clerics still control much of Afghanistan. If Karzai pushes too hard on behalf of religious freedom, the extremist elements there could threaten his rule. The last thing we want is a religious regime along the lines of what existed under the Taliban.

There certainly are a number of positive changes since the fall of the Taliban. Girls are now allowed to go to school, for instance. And notwithstanding the case of Rahman, freedom of expression isn't nearly as curtailed as it was under the Taliban. But it is difficult for nations that once lived under dictatorships, religious regimes or both to suddenly practice the type of democracy we cherish.

Rahman's plight is a sobering reminder that efforts to foster democracy in the Mideast, such as in Iraq, involve more than just establishing elected governments - an intrinsic passion for freedom must accompany them. If such values aren't embraced by the people, then these governments will be nothing like the democracies, such as ours, that guarantee freedom.