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
Although Hamid Karzai may be puppet for the US, The US may have lost their grip on him recently. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greeted Karzai warmly in a formal reception at the State Department. Like it or not, the Obama administration is stuck with Karzai for four more years. After Karzai was pressured by the US to a do over election, the opposition withdrew. The Obama administration is now finding themselves locked into a relationship. America’s plans in Afghanistan depend on a corrupt leader who despises his handlers. Karzai is using this situation to get as much as he can.
The hat of Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, after talking bad about 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 theatre being staged this week for Karzai is intended to calm his anxiety and feed his ego. By July 2011, Obama plans on pulling out all troops. 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. The US plans that by the end of the year the Taliban will be driven out of Kandahar province. Speaking of Hamid Karzai as a legitimate partner in this huge 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.”
Opium is what Galbraith was talking about. Ahmad Wali was suspected of trading opium in one of the world’s poorest countries. This is denied by the Karzai brothers and the Obama administration doesn’t have much evidence yet.
What a guy Hamid Karzai is
The ambassador to Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry escorted Hamid Karzai on his flight from Kabul to Washington. The New York Times explains that Eikenberry wants to assure reporters at the White House that he now has faith within the Afghan president’s determination to succeed. Last November, in leaked classified cables obtained by the New York Times, Eikenberry told the Obama administration that Karzai “is not an adequate strategic partner” and “continues to shun responsibility for any sovereign burden”.
Hamid Karzai and in deep
Eikenberry knew what he was talking about when he criticized Karzai. 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. So far, that much has come true.
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
