Kerry arrives in Afghanistan on unannounced visit
Source: AP-Excite
By MATTHEW LEE
KABUL (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has flown into Afghanistan on an unannounced visit to see President Hamid Karzai amid concerns the Afghan president may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with anti-American rhetoric.
Kerry arrived in the Afghan capital on Monday for a 24-hour visit and was to meet Karzai, civic leaders and others to discuss continued U.S. assistance to the country. His visit coincides with the handover of a major detention center to Afghan officials.
It also comes as Karzai has infuriated U.S. officials by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration presses ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO's combat mission by the end of next year.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130325/DA5830383.html
daleo
(21,317 posts)That seems to be par for the course for these visits.
karynnj
(59,504 posts)It IS why both visits still need to be "unannounced". Iraq is not the glorious democracy that the Bush/Cheney people promised - and Afghanistan is a mess as well.
Here is an article on the chaos of Iraq - http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/25/john-kerry-drops-into-iraqi-tumult-ten-years-after-invasion/
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)As it relates to your link. My bad.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)"the war against extremism" is what it is now.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)I think all we have left with Karzai is carrots.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)And it won't matter whether he suspends elections or not as his days are numbered. He is the modern day Prince Norodom Sihanouk and the fate of Afghanistan will be the fate Cambodia suffered for decades.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)The Sunni/Shia divide was both predictable and predicted prior to the invasion. Beyond no WMD, this was the strongest argument for not going to war in Iraq. What we learned is the danger of not listening to the voices of reason. Sadly, human nature probably means that the lesson was not learned to the degree necessary to prevent a repeat of a future major debacle. After all, how long did the lesson of Vietnam last? Keep in mind that the Generals in Iraq were the Captains in Vietnam so memories are very short.