Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, was in Washington on Tuesday. Every person thought Hamid Karzai was a dirt bag last month because of his corruption. In April the Washington Post reported the White House hinted it had considered canceling Hamid Karzai’s scheduled meeting with President Obama on Wednesday. At the very exact same time, there are a lot more and a lot more US troops being killed in Hamid Karzai’s name.
Hamid Karzai election
The Hamid Karzai election marked when the administration’s displeasure with Hamid Karzai’s corruption became public. In 2009, it was discovered that fraud was involved in Hamid Karzai’s election to a second term as president. Karzai, who won, blamed the west for the widespread fraud within the vote. He publicly criticized the western governments propping him up and got cozy with fellow puppet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wearing his Karzai hat. Meanwhile, the U.S. spends about $6.3 billion a month in an unsecured loan to Afghanistan, according to an October 2009 report from the Congressional Research Service.
The corruption from Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai may be a U.S. puppet, but lately America has lost its grip on his strings. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greeted Karzai very warmly in a reception at the State Department. Like it or not, the Obama administration is stuck with Karzai for four more years. After the U.S. pressured Karzai into a do-over election, the opposition withdrew. The Obama administration is now finding themselves locked into a relationship. Plans in Afghanistan for America no depend on a leader who’s corrupt and despises his handlers. Karzai is exploiting the situation to get whatever he can while the getting is good.
The Hamid Karzai hat
Hamid Karzai, after bad-mouthing the coalition of countries sacrificing blood and treasure to keep him in Karzai hats made from aborted lamb fetuses, now whines about being abandoned. The political theater for Karzai this week should calm his anxiety and feed his ego. The Obama administration wants to pull out all troops by July 2011. If the U.S. achieves that goal, Karzai, who has survived three assassination attempts as Afghanistan’s president, is making it known that he will seek a new protector.
Hamid Karzai’s brother
Ahmad Wali Karzai, Hamid Karzai’s half brother, shows this corruption in Kandahar Province where he leads its Provisional Council. A major U.S. military effort is under way to drive the Taliban out of Kandahar province by the end of the year. Speaking of Hamid Karzai as a legitimate partner in such an effort, Peter Galbraith, a former U.N. envoy to Afghanistan told MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” :
“He’s prone to tirades. He can be very emotional, act impulsively. In fact, some of the palace insiders say that he has a certain fondness for some of Afghanistan’s most profitable exports.”
In mentioning exports, Galbraith was talking about opium. Suspected of getting rich from opium trade in one of the world’s poorest countries is Ahmad Wali. The Obama administration doesn’t have much evidence yet and also the Karzai brothers deny this completely.
What a guy Hamid Karzai is
For his latest visit to Washington, Hamid Karzai was personally escorted on his flight from Kabul by none other than Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, the ambassador to Afghanistan. The New York Times reports that Eikenberry intends to assure reporters at the White House that he now has faith in the Afghan president’s determination to succeed. In leaked classified cables obtained by the New York Times last November, Eikenberry told the Obama administration that Karzai “is not an adequate strategic partner” and “continues to shun responsibility for any sovereign burden”.
We’re in too deep with Hamid Karzai
In criticizing Karzai, Eikenberry knew what he was talking about. He served as the top American commander in Afghanistan in 2002-03 and is now retired. In the classified cables, he warned that a major military commitment to Afghanistan would result in “astronomical costs” — tens of billions of dollars — and would only deepen the dependence of the Afghan government on the United States. A lot of that has come true thus far.
Resources
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040602175.html
MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34689185/
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/world/asia/11karzai.html?ref=us
