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| Afghanistan |
| Obama keeps Afghan ally at arm's length |
| 2009-05-06 |
| Today, as the two leaders meet in the White House, that skepticism drives the administration's evolving policy toward Afghanistan and the battle against Taliban insurgents, a conflict whose outcome will in part define Obama's presidency. In assessing the nearly eight-year struggle from Washington, senior members of Obama's national security team say Karzai has not done enough to address the grave challenges facing his nation. They deem him to be a mercurial and vacillating chieftain who has tolerated corruption and failed to project his authority beyond the gates of Kabul. "On all fronts," said a senior U.S. official, "Hamid Karzai has plateaued as a leader." At the same time, the consensus view among State Department, Pentagon and CIA officials is that Karzai almost certainly will win reelection to another five-year term this August. Vexed by the challenge of stabilizing Afghanistan with a partner they regard as less than reliable, Obama's advisers have crafted a two-pronged strategy that amounts to a fundamental break from the avuncular way President George W. Bush dealt with the Afghan leader. Obama intends to maintain an arm's-length relationship with Karzai in the hope that it will lead him to address issues of concern to the United States, according to senior U.S. government officials. The administration will also seek to bypass Karzai by working more closely with other members of his cabinet and by funneling more money to local governors. 'It's going to be different' For Karzai, an elegant and engaging politician renowned for his ability to forge compromises between warring factions, the new American coolness is unlikely to be a surprise. Ten days before Obama's inauguration, Karzai told Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. during a private meeting in Kabul that he looked forward to building with Obama the same sort of chummy relationship he had with Bush, which included frequent videoconferences and personal visits. "Well, it's going to be different," Biden replied, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversation. "You'll probably talk to him or see him a couple of times a year. You're not going to be talking to him every week." Obama advisers believe the relationship that Bush developed with Karzai masked the Afghan leader's flaws and made it difficult to demand accountability. Obama has not held a videoconference with Karzai, and the two have spoken by phone just twice. The administration rebuffed Karzai's request for a bilateral visit to Washington this spring, telling him he could come only as part of this week's tripartite summit with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, according to U.S. government officials. Karzai's meeting with Obama today is scheduled for 20 minutes, as is Zardari's. The classified version of the recent White House review of Afghanistan strategy, according to two officials who have read it, criticizes Karzai. "It takes him to task for not meeting even the most basic Afghan expectations," one of the officials said. "The implication is clear: Karzai is not our man in this upcoming election." Like many of the two dozen current and former officials interviewed for this story, these sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the leaders candidly. In a discussion at the Brookings Institution yesterday, Karzai acknowledged "bumps and ups and downs" in his relationship with the United States, but he insisted that "the fundamentals are strong and steady." Karzai's aides contend that he alone is not to blame for Afghanistan's ills -- and Obama administration officials readily agree. Advisers to both leaders, as well as many diplomats who have served in Kabul, maintain that the U.S. approach to dealing with Afghanistan since 2001 -- a lack of troops and reconstruction dollars, periods of intense diplomatic engagement followed by stretches of inattention, and constantly shifting priorities -- whipsawed and weakened Karzai. His defenders also point to decisions by the Bush administration not to send more forces to Afghanistan. As Taliban activity has increased in recent years, overwhelmed soldiers have increasingly resorted to calling in airstrikes, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. When complaints in private failed to diminish the use of air attacks, Karzai started to denounce the U.S. military in his speeches, prompting consternation in Washington. "The Karzai that gives Washington such a headache today is, in large part, a product of how we dealt with him," said Robert Finn, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan during the first two years of Karzai's presidency. "We didn't give him the resources he needed -- be it money or troops." |
| Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC |
| #10 * SAME >PAKISTANI GENERAL ASLAM BAIG: AMERICANS KILLED BENAZIR BHUTTO, ZIA UL-HAQ, LIAQAT, + many Others. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-05-06 23:20 |
| #9 OTOH, PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > POSTER Thread - OSAMA BIN LADEN TO ANNOUNCE NEW ISLAMIC EMIRATE IN PAKISTANI NWFP!? * Also from PDF > FORMER US AMBASSADOR BLACKWELL [RAND Corp]: PAKISTAN THREAT [Fall of Govt; Nukulaar MilTerrs] WORST US FOREIGN POLICY CRISIS SINCE THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS/PAKISTAN'S ELITES DO NOT HAVE THE WILL TO RESIST SPREADING ISLAMISM. US-World on the threshold of possible NUCLEAR CRISIS + ultimat [MILTERR-LED] NUCLEAR WAR??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-05-06 23:18 |
| #8 Afghanistan is looking more and more like a lost cause. If nukes fly in that part of the world, it might not matter afterwards. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2009-05-06 16:47 |
| #7 OP, Zero may not have any Executive/Administrative skills but he is doing an amazing job of getting his basic social policies enacted into law. We underestimate at our peril. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-05-06 16:10 |
| #6 Just another example of how our boy-president is nowhere near ready to actually GOVERN. He couldn't handle Andorra, much less the United States. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-05-06 15:43 |
| #5 I have a huge problem with the phrase Afghan Ally, it just plain stinks of "Hopenchangium". |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-05-06 14:10 |
| #4 "Hamid Karzai has plateaued as a leader." 'Leading' the Afghans is a lot like herding cats. Feral cats. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-05-06 13:26 |
| #3 "Hamid Karzai has plateaued as a leader." Takes one to know one, I guess. |
| Posted by: Spot 2009-05-06 08:05 |
| #2 "Those people"? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-05-06 04:48 |
| #1 failed to project his authority beyond the gates of Kabul. Wow, these people have never cracked a history book before, have they? |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-05-06 04:19 |