Fighting for Democracy?

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Reporters Without Borders reports that the Afghanistan Cabinet July 27 shut down the television station Emroz and banned two other programs, Del & Nadel and Bazi Bakhat, for purportedly espousing "anti-Islamist," views, a popular, if vague, rationale for government censorship of the news media in Afghanistan.

Emroz, which has been on-air since 2006, frequently adopts anti-Shiite and anti-Iranian positions. Del & Nadel, which is broadcast by the privately owned Yak TV station, and Bazi Bakhat, a product of the privately owned Tolo TV, were also deemed anti-Islamist by the Cabinet, a move condemned by the Union of Afghan Journalists as a dangerous affront to freedom of expression.

The Afghan government has not adopted the American tenet of an unfettered press, but they seem to have taken to waste and corruption without much trouble, so there may still be hope.