Where Guns Rule, Disarmament Falls Short

But the plan, the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program, which began last fall, has been floundering.

Afghanistan's top warlords have been reluctant to cooperate, and the mujahedin fighters have felt betrayed, jeopardizing the chances of bringing security to the nation before a general election planned for September.

"It's a big failure," said Andrew Wilder, head of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, a think tank in Kabul. "We have no hope of rebuilding Afghanistan when the rule of gun is outside Kabul."

Referring to the U.S.-led war that toppled the Taliban regime, Wilder said: "In the first six months after November 2001, the warlords wouldn't have thumbed their noses. But now they know the United States has problems in Iraq and feel they don't have to listen."

By this month, about 40,000 men loyal to rival militias were to have been disarmed, with the rest turning in their guns over the next three years.

So far, only about 6,000 have responded. The most powerful warlords in the country, such as Abdul Rashid Dostum, Atta Mohammed and Ismail Khan, have been reluctant to surrender their weapons and their men because they would lose power.

Unusual concessions have been offered, including one by the Japanese Embassy, the biggest funder of the program, to send military units overseas for business training.

The disarmament program calls for the United Nations to verify lists of soldiers provided by regional commanders.

Originally, the soldiers were to hand over a functioning weapon, usually a Kalashnikov, in exchange for $200 and a bag of food. The money and food were meant to tide them over while they looked for work, such as ditch-digging or demining, or were taught skills such as farming or shopkeeping.

But the program has been a case of trying to implement a 21st century idea within a feudal society.

Commanders in towns and villages in Afghanistan provide weapons, food and wives to residents in exchange for allegiance, much the way society operated in medieval Europe.