There's a growing feeling of an opportunity lost.

US forces are still detaining people without charge indefinitely in operating bases.

It contains a barely veiled threat of collective punishment. Making such a threat is a violation of the Geneva conventions and other laws of war.

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

Lots of Afghans are disappointed and cynical because they feel like people who perpetrated serious human rights abuses have been allowed back in the parliament.

Voters had to choose between the unknown and the notorious.

The US detain people, keep them for a while and then release them without charges. It sometimes take two months for the family to know where the detainees are.

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

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.