Afghan political rivals meeting with Obama administration officials may signal US split with Karsai

[bigtree]

Friday, 23 January 2009

Obama ready to cut Karzai adrift(?)



As support for Afghan leader wanes, rivals go to Washington for meeting with new President

BARACK OBAMA'S arrival in the White House and the wind of change sweeping through Washington could lead to the ousting from power of Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, The Independent has learnt. International support for Mr Karzai, who was once the darling of the West, has waned spectacularly, amid worsening violence, endemic corruption and weak leadership. But until very recently, diplomats insisted there were no viable alternatives even as fighting has intensified and the Taliban insurgency in the south has grown. But four key figures believed to be challenging Mr Karzai have arrived in Washington for meetings with Obama administration officials this week. There is now talk of a "dream ticket" that would see the main challengers run together to unite the country's various ethnic groups and wrest control away from Mr Karzai.

The unofficial delegation to Washington was made up of three ex-ministers and a serving governor. Dr Abdullah Abdullah was the foreign minister, Dr Ashraf Ghani served as finance minister, Ali Ahmad Jalali was interior minister and Gul Agha Sherzai is the governor of the eastern province of Nangahar, where US troops are based. When Mr Obama visited Afghanistan in July he met Governor Sherzai in Jalalabad, even before he saw President Karzai in Kabul. "They are not going to blindly back President Karzai like the Bush administration did for so long," said John Dempsey, head of the United States Institute of Peace in Kabul. On the ground in Afghanistan, Camp Bastion in Helmand province is already becoming the symbol of the Americanisation of the war in the south. US forces have started arriving and will be joined by many more. Airfields are to be built to bring in transport and warplanes in preparation for a coming offensive with the dispatch of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

Karzai officials had hoped Hillary Clinton, now the US Secretary of State, would prove their ally in White House. But those hopes were dashed last week when she branded Afghanistan a "narco-state" with a government "plagued by limited capacity and widespread corruption" during her confirmation hearing.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president's brother, was named last October in leaked US intelligence reports as a major narco-trafficker. The allegations, vigorously denied by both men, are widespread in Afghanistan but, until then, Western officials had refused to corroborate them. But the leak was seen as a shot across Mr Karzai's bows from the Bush administration, to make him clean up his act and rein in his brother. The flurry of criticism suggests the international community is less than happy with his response. Mrs Clinton's remarks coincided with stinging criticism from Nato's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who said corrupt and inefficient government was as much to blame for instability as the insurgents. Writing in The Washington Post, he said: "The basic problem in Afghanistan is not too much Taliban; it's too little good governance."


read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/obama-ready-to-cut-karzai-adrift-1513407.html

[annabanana]

1. Hoo-eee!

THAT ought to get the joint jumping....
(I missed where Mrs. Clinton called it a narco-state. . our media is just plain lame.)

[Why Syzygy]

4. I will be constantly disappointed in her.

"narco-state" is such an over simplification and smacks of Bush's drug running. IOW, she sounds like she's in league with the Bushes. Either that or she's just too simple minded, and we all know that isn't so.

[mucifer]

2. oy vey so are we going to try to micromanage this country and put up a different

puppet government?

[bigtree]

6. this may be the least important influence on the upcoming 'elections' there

There's concern that the protection and support afforded the north and the adversarial posture of the U.S.-led NATO forces toward the south will significantly skew the results in favor of the infrastructure surrounding the protected regime.

[blonndee]

3. Wow. I hadn't read about the allegations about one of Karzai's brothers.

I know that's not the main idea of this post, but I find that very disappointing personally and I hope it's not true. I was incredibly lucky to have dinner last year with another brother of Karzai, Quayum, who with his wife, Pat, heads up Afghans for Civil Society. It was just the two of them, me, and my parents. My mom came to know Pat because we were doing a "shoe drive" in our area to help people in Afghanistan who didn't have adequate footwear. It ended up being a HUGE undertaking, and it was this organization that was finally able to help us get tons of shoes sent over.

The Karzais were fascinating people and I was very impressed with the work the organization is trying to do in Afghanistan, particularly Pat's efforts on behalf of women in Afghanistan. Mr. Karzai had a lot to say about his native country and his father in particular, and it gave me a whole different perspective on Afghanistan. They were such incredibly kind, articulate, and dedicated people. I didn't want the evening to end and I'll probably never forget it!

I'm not sure what to think about these developments because I admittedly know very little about the situation and the negative implications in this article. I guess I just wanted to say a little something because my experience with one of the Karzais was so positive and memorable.

[bigtree]

5. thanks for the perspective

The article does try and soften their reporting of the accusations by talking about the perceptions of corruption which is fueled by charges like the ones against one of his brothers.

I'm quite certain the Karsai family is a gracious as the Afghan president presents himself in public. There is, however, quite an expensive record of associations and alleged dealings surrounding the oil pipeline which involved oil company Unicol, members of the Taliban leadership which assumed power after the Soviets left, and the Clinton administration.

[stillcool]

7. There is nothing of substance in that article..

Some one here once explained how to deconstruct a news article to reveal how little it actually said. I wish I saved the post..this would be a great example of a lot about nothing. Look at what it actually says about the Karzai's..


Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president's brother, was named last October in leaked US intelligence reports as a major narco-trafficker. The allegations, vigorously denied by both men, are widespread in Afghanistan but, until then, Western officials had refused to corroborate them. But the leak was seen as a shot across Mr Karzai's bows from the Bush administration, to make him clean up his act and rein in his brother. The flurry of criticism suggests the international community is less than happy with his response. Mrs Clinton's remarks coincided with stinging criticism from Nato's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who said corrupt and inefficient government was as much to blame for instability as the insurgents. Writing in The Washington Post, he said: "The basic problem in Afghanistan is not too much Taliban; it's too little good governance."

[bigtree]

8. sure there is

it may not interest you, but . . . whatever.

There IS a real and growing concern about the integrity and ethics of the Karsai regime. This is an interesting account of some of the leading opposition to Karsai, some of who, according to the article, have already met with Mr. Obama.

I don't think there's enough of an appreciation for the details of these issues we throw around here. You find those inside of these rehashed reports. I'd like to see a quiz here sometime to show just how informed we really are. It make no sense to me to spend time discounting or devaluing a report like this.

[stillcool]

10. I don't find it to be informative at all....

why would Hillary's statement about the heroin trade signal she was opposed to Karzai? I don't know about rumors of the Karzai's so that statement means exactly that..rumors. I have no doubt that there is opposition to Karzai, and I have no opinion one way or another, because of the little I have read about Afghanistan in the last 8 years, there is very little I believe..especially when it comes from the U.S. Government.

[bigtree]

9. re: your edit: The article gave a summary of issues surrounding the regime

. . . which are the subject of a great deal of ink.

The article was mainly about the visit by these opposition figures with a quick rundown of the political landscape in Afghanistan. It could have expanded on those, but it was the only account I've seen that mentions the visit and lists the opposition figures.

Your complaint is much less substantive than the article, imo.

[stillcool]

11. Okay.

I'm glad you got something out of it.