Former U.N Envoy to Afghanistan gives his prescription

The man who served as U.N envoy to Afghanistan from 2000 to 2008, Francesc Vendrell, has been much sought after as the nation unravels from war and corruption. The Spanish diplomat has laid out several remedies he believe can turn things around quickly:

1. Go ahead with the run-off election: "The more credible the new president is, the better -- the more credibility he has, first with the Afghan public and, secondly, of course, with the international community, who are so deeply involved, particularly in the Western countries and with Western public opinion."

2. Move towards the parlimentary election system that most South Asian nation use, perhaps with Karzai and Abdullah both serving in a temporary transition team:
"Simply replacing one person by another one and then giving him free rein for five years is not the right solution."

3. Begin an era of reform by clearing out the most corrupt Afghan officials:
"It would help Mr. Karzai enormously if, in one go, he got rid of 15 or 20 Afghan public figures who are notorious and disliked by most Afghans. It would help his image enormously."

Amidst all this discussion of military stragegy, it is refreshing to hear one of the top Afghanistan experts in the world discuss ways non-military ways that the struggling nation needs to move forward.