Disarmament Near Mazar-e Sharif

Afghan warlords Atta Muhammad and Abd ar-Rashid Dostum are handing their heavy weapons over to the Afghan National Army, a sign of concrete disarmament that shows there may be hope after all that stability can return to the region around Mazar-e Sharif. The whole article is rather interesting, as it gives insight into the complexities of current Afghan politics. It may be that the creation of a central government, even Karzai's weak one, is creating a domain where conflict can spread but through which it can be contained as rivals gain access to non-military tools of competition which make politics possible.