Afghan president Hamid Karzai appointed two warlords and former Cabinet members to influential governorships Sunday in a bid to keep the strongmen happy — but outside of his central government.  Gul Agha Sherzai, the former public works minister, was named governor of southern Kandahar province, a post he controlled once before. Sayed Hussain Anwari, the former agriculture minister, was named governor of Kabul province, which includes the capital city. The appointments were announced Sunday.
| Sherzai's a guy to keep an eye on. He's not what you'd call a competent warlord, but as an administrator that word that pops to mind is "rapacious." The Taliban got their start running him out of Kandahar... |
Karzai had fired the two men, along with powerful former Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim, as part of a sweeping Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday, earning praise for kicking warlords out of his government in favor of professionals. A presidential spokesman, Khaleeq Ahmed, said the men had been effective ministers and were only dismissed because they lacked the university degrees now constitutionally required for all Cabinet members. "They were qualified people, but unfortunately because of all the warfare in Afghanistan, people who chose jihad did not finish their education," he said. "But we wanted to promote them and keep them in the government so they could continue their good work."
| It's cheap and easy enough to bitch about the warlords in Afghanistan, but they were the guys who actually fought the Soviets and who held out against the Taliban until we showed up to help them drive them out. |
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