Using NewsHour Extra Feature Stories

Overview: NewsHour Extra feature stories can help students identify and interpret key issues in current events. This activity anticipates one class period, but the follow-up essay might be assigned as homework or in another period.

Warm Up: Use initiating questions to introduce the topic and find out how much your students know.

Main Activity: Have students read NewsHour Extra's feature story and answer the questions on the reading comprehension handout.

Discussion: Use discussion questions to encourage students to think about how the issues outlined in the story affect their lives and express and debate different opinions.

Follow-up: Students can write a 500-word editorial on the topic expressing their views and send it to NewsHour Extra [extra@newshour.org] for possible publication.

Evaluation: Students are graded on their answers to reading comprehension questions and/or their editorial.

Story: Afghans Vote in First Democratic Election, 10/25/04
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec04/afghanistan_10-25.html

Initiating Questions:

1. Where is Afghanistan?

2. Do you remember when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001? Why did we do that?

3. Afghanistan recently had its first-ever democratic election-- why is that important?

Reading Comprehension Questions: (click here for printout)

1. When was the Afghan election and why did the results take so long?

The election, canceled twice because of security problems, took place on Saturday, Oct. 9, but votes from remote areas took weeks to make it to the capital, Kabul.

2. Who is expected to win the election?

There were 18 candidates in the presidential election, but the U.S.-backed Hamid Karzai, a tribal leader of the ethnic Pashtun group, was the favorite to win.

Karzai held an evident majority on Monday, carrying 55.3 percent of the vote, or 4.2 million votes, with 94.3 percent of the ballots counted. The percentage is enough to avoid a run-off with his closest competitor, Yunus Qanuni, a former cabinet minister and ethnic Tajik, who garnered a little over 16.2 percent of the vote, or 1.2 million votes.

3. Who is Hamid Karzai?

The United States picked Karzai to head an interim government after U.S. and Afghan forces overthrew the Islamic Taliban government in 2001 for providing refuge to Osama bin Laden, the organizer of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Karzai and the interim government were charged with leading the country until elections could take place.

4. Why was violence expected to hamper the election?

Remnants of the Taliban regime and the al-Qaida terrorist network had promised to use bombings and assaults to hinder the elections, but the Afghans did not seem deterred.

5. Was there a large turnout for the election?

An estimated 70 to 80 percent of Afghans voted in the election, and roughly 10 million Afghan citizens were registered to vote in the election. The polls were guarded by about 100,000 Afghan and international security forces.

6. What controversy threatened to derail the election?

Despite a successful election day, Afghans faced potential controversy when Karzai's opponents listed 300 complaints of voter fraud and polling errors in the election process.

Candidates claimed that ink placed on voters' hands to indicate if they had voted rubbed off, which could allow people to vote twice.

7. What security issues face the newly-elected government?

The newly elected president faces an uphill climb trying to provide security and rebuild cities torn by decades of war.

In an effort to stabilize the country, the government has tried to disarm 40,000 men loyal to rival militia throughout the country. So far, only 9,700 have disarmed. Additionally, most households have high-powered weapons.

"This is not a country that has insurance companies that insure your house. In this country, your insurance policy is an AK-47 over the fireplace," said Peter Babbington, an official leading disarmament efforts.

8. What other problems face Karzai's new government?

In addition to security, Karzai will need to combat a rapidly growing opium production.
The illegal drug is made from the bright red poppy flowers that farmers grow because it is one of the only ways to make money in the war-torn economy.

According to United Nations estimates, poppy farmers earn over $2,500 a year, while traditional crop farmers earn about $700 a year. About 7 million Afghans now farm poppy for economic reasons.

Discussion Activity (more research might be needed):

1. Using the NewsHour's timeline of Afghan history at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/Afghanistan/timeline.html, explain the importance of this election for the people of Afghanistan?

2. How is the current situation in Iraq similar or different to what happened in Afghanistan? Is there a chance Iraq's scheduled election in January may be as successful as the one in Afghanistan? Explain.

3. Do you think democracy in Afghanistan will be similar to democracy in America? How might the two be different?

Write a 300-500 word essay on either of these topics providing clear examples. Send your completed editorial to NewsHour Extra (extra@newshour.org). Exceptional essays might be published on our Web site.