Editing Mohammad Qasim Fahim (section)

===First term as Vice President===
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During the [[2002 loya jirga]], where a new [[Afghan Transitional Administration|transitional government]] was formed, Fahim supported the candidacy for president of Karzai. In turn he retained as vice-president and defense minister.

In the summer of 2002, American officials are said to have picked up intelligence that Fahim was considering an attempt to assassinate Karzai, as a result of which, in July 2002, US Special Forces wrested presidential bodyguard duties away from soldiers loyal to Fahim. The move followed the assassination earlier in the month of one of Karzai's vice presidents, [[Abdul Qadir (Afghan leader)|Abdul Qadir]], a powerful Pashtun warlord and Karzai ally.<ref name=Telegraph100314 />

As Defense Minister, he toured army bases in the United Kingdom, negotiated security issues with US General [[Tommy Franks]] and Canadian Defense Minister [[John McCallum]], [[NATO]] Secretary General [[George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen|George Robertson]], visited Moscow and Washington, DC. He also replaced 15 ethnic [[Tājik people|Tajik]] generals with officers from the [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]], [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] and [[Hazara people|Hazara]] ethnic groups, although he was accused of delaying reforms that would have required him to replace his Tajik generals with a more ethnically balanced officer corps. The reform was a precondition for carrying out a $200 million UN-sponsored plan to pay off and disarm 100,000 militiamen loyal to the warlords.<ref name=Telegraph100314 />

While holding the position, he continued to command his own militia which he inherited from the United Front or more commonly known as the [[Northern Alliance]]. However, on 10 December 2003, he ordered part of his militia to transport their weapons to an [[Afghan National Army]] installation near [[Kabul]].

On 12 September 2003, [[Miloon Kothari]], appointed by the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] to investigate housing rights in [[Afghanistan]], announced that many of the government ministers including Fahim and Education Minister [[Yunus Qanuni]] were illegally occupying land and should be removed from their posts. However, three days later, Kothari sent a letter to [[Lakhdar Brahimi]], the head of the UN in Afghanistan, saying he had gone too far in naming the ministers.
[[File:George W. Bush meets Afghan politicians in Kabul.jpg|thumb|Marshal Fahim greeting former U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] in 2006. Others to the side are Afghan President [[Hamid Karzai]] and 2nd Vice Afghan President [[Karim Khalili]] with the turban.]]

In 2004, many expected Karzai to name Fahim or Qanuni as candidate for vice-president in the upcoming [[2004 Afghan presidential election|presidential election]], but he named [[Ahmad Zia Massoud]] instead. Subsequently, Fahim backed the candidacy of his fellow Tajik, [[Yunus Qanuni]] for president.

After Karzai's victory, Fahim was not reappointed Defense Minister and was succeeded by his deputy [[Abdul Rahim Wardak]]. Karzai dropped Fahim from his cabinet to rebalance the Ministry of Defence, and as a result of intense pressure from various foreign organizations who viewed Fahim as a major bottleneck in the disarmament process.<ref>Antonio Giustozzi, The Army of Afghanistan: A Political History, Hurst, 2015, 132-3.</ref> He was dismissed in August 2004. Fahim also had no higher education, and article 72 of Afghanistan's constitution states that an appointed Minister to the President's cabinet should have a higher education.<ref name=afghanistanonline /> In a decree made in December 2004, Karzai, who called Fahim his "close friend and confidant" confirmed that Fahim would hold the rank of [[Marshal]], Afghanistan's highest, for life.<ref name=Telegraph100314 /> Years after his death, at a gathering of Fahim's supporters and Afghan politicians, Marking the 5th anniversary of his death, Hazara leader [[Muhammad Mohaqiq]], defending Fahim's military title arguing "When he was given the title of Afghanistan's Marshal by the former president, he deserved it. Because the Mujahideen had won the war against the occupier forces."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/brief-look-marshal-fahim%E2%80%99s-biography|title=A Brief Look At Marshal Fahim's Biography|website=TOLOnews|language=en|access-date=2019-11-20}}</ref>

Although Fahim lost his formal role in the government, he remained a powerful and influential figure in Afghanistan. In 2006, Karzai, faced with a resurgent Taliban, returned Marshal Fahim to Government as an advisor.<ref name=Telegraph100314 />

Some Afghan analysts attest that, despite losing his military position, Fahim remained a very powerful figure in the country. "[He] is particularly popular among people in the north, because he had fought [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Russia]], and later the [[Taliban]] and [[Al-Qaeda]]. He spent many years fighting aggressors." (Erada, 2005)

Later in the year 2006, Karzai said, "Marshal Fahim is one of the sons of our [mujahedin], a patriot and [a man who loves] his country. I have a great deal of respect for Marshal Fahim. He has been my close friend and confidant. He has his own unique place in Afghanistan. He has been a respectable military man. He is a five-star general. And he is a senator." Regarding his decision in appointing Marshal Fahim as one of his advisors, Karzai added that "I hope that officially as my adviser, he will continue to cooperate with me. He comes to all of the National Security Council meetings. He is my dear brother. No one can ever reduce the respect that Marshal Fahim has earned for himself." (Azadi Radio, 5 April 2006) Throughout his time as a public figure, he has had persistent accusations of corruption and human rights abuses. When he died, the American-led coalition simply expressed condolences to Fahim's family.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/world/asia/afghan-vice-president-ex-northern-alliance-commander-dies.html?hp|title=Warlord Who Tamped Conflicts as Afghan Vice President Dies|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 March 2014|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Matthew}}</ref>

Fahim was a member of the (now defunct) political party [[United National Front (Afghanistan)|United National Front]], a broad coalition of former and current strongmen, mainly with a basis in the United Islamic Front.