KABUL - At the corner of two unpaved muddy roads in downtown Kabul, Abdul Rahim bakes traditional Afghan bread and complains that life in Afghanistan is becoming more difficult.

"The government is no help. It is corrupt."

Rahim’s view of the Afghan government is not unique. Most Afghans view the government, led by President Hamid Karzai since 2001, as corrupt and ineffective – and many Western officials fear that the Karzai government may not be the viable and credible partner General Stanley McChrystal says is needed to stabilize the war torn nation.

In recent months, violence in Afghanistan has reached record levels and it remains one of the poorest countries in the world – less than 10% of the roads are paved and clean drinking water is rare.

“Despite the influx of billions of dollars in terms of aid and donations,” said Haroun Mir of the Afghanistan Center for Research and Policy Studies, “we see little change in the Afghan villages.”

Afghan police regularly request bribes from drivers at traffic check points and shake down businesses for protection money.

The August 20^th Presidential election was marred by wide spread fraud and ballot stuffing – an investigation by a U.N. backed panel ruled more than 1 million of Presidents Karzai’s votes were fake and were later tossed out.

Karzai was declared the winner, after his main challenger, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the round run-off election claiming the second round would be plagued by the same fraud that marred the first round.

But supporters say the Karzai government has achieved far more than it is given credit for, and blame the media for its poor reputation.

“The international media has focused all on the negative,” said Abdul Rahim Wardak, Afghanistan’s Minister of Defense, “but at the moment the future is quite bright.”

Indeed, millions of children, including women who were banned from receiving an education under the Taliban, now attend school and the economy in the many cities like Kabul and Herat is booming.

Most importantly though, supporters believe Karzai has held the country together during a period of difficult transition by reaching out to various ethnic groups.

Reacting to International pressure, Karzai has pledged to clean up his government.

“Our government’s image has been tainted by corruption,” Karzai told reporters after being declared the winner of the Afghan election, “we will strive by any means possible to eradicate this stain.”

For better or worse, many U.S. and International officials admit privately, there isn’t another viable political alternative to working with Karzai. They hope he can regain the trust he once had.

"I think that the government here does have the potential to be a credible viable partner.” Said Florida Republican Senator George LeMieux, “I think they are working hard to be that."