As the rumors of complete draw down circulate, the magnitude of security concerns practically has multiplied. Everybody extends deep concerns over escalating civilian causalities and deteriorating state of law and order in this piece of land. It is worth mentioning that the government has too displayed incompetence devising policy and strategy to combat the insurgency. What all it has done is greater reliance on international community led by US to sort out a congenial solution for its core issues.

The attacks on foreign diplomats and government installation depict either state’s unwillingness to restrict the insurgent away from commercial and residential areas or it has surrendered to militants operating at will. Every time a tragic incident occurs the fatless civilian has to pay the price by serving to be a sacrificial cow.

Even without the insurgency, drugs and crime, the Afghan legal system has many problems. For example, corruption, a lack of trust in the judiciary, a strong informal system and threats from the Taliban. In this issue, Afghans and westerners alike look at how to put law and order on its feet in the country - and how this year's elections could be managed without the fear of terrorizing activities.

Without a doubt, the Afghan justice sector is dysfunctional and eroded, and considerable effort is needed to strengthen the technical aspects of rebuilding the security and justice sectors. In Afghanistan today, there are several parallel, and often inherently conflicting, perceptions of governance and rule of law. The governance and the religious laws imposed by the Taliban were extreme, brutal and discriminatory, but they were also only one more governance/rule of law structure forcibly imposed by a centralized government in Kabul, or in Kandahar in the case of the Taliban, whose power and legitimacy remained contested.

After years of conflict and several changes of governments, multiple government-centered (formal) and customary and community-based (informal) systems of governance and law continue to exist in parallel in Afghanistan. The last twelve years of internationally-supported state-building have added to the complexities of rule of law and governance in Afghanistan.

However, at a minimum, a renewed commitment to rule of law in Afghanistan should include an increased focus on vetting senior political appointees and political candidates in the upcoming cycle of elections, an increased focus on disarmament and accountability in security sector reform and using access to justice as a measure for success of justice reform.

Much emphasis is currently put on the upcoming electoral cycle and its power to restore the Afghan government’s legitimacy. Though many observers warn that the elections are unlikely to be free and fair, the hope is that they will be at least credible. Elections, enabling citizens to choose their political leadership, can certainly be a powerful tool for legitimacy. If free and fair election is conducted the multitude of problems Afghanistan faces might be abolished.