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| Afghanistan |
| Obama sidelines Karzai as Washington alleges drug use |
| 2010-04-07 |
| The Obama administration is to step up efforts to bypass Hamid Karzai after a series of controversial remarks by the Afghan president over recent days renewed concern about his reliability as an ally. With relations between Washington and Kabul at a new low, the former UN envoy to Kabul Peter Galbraith said Karzai's comments raised questions about his mental stability and blamed them on alleged drug use. Galbraith, an American who was the former deputy UN chief in Afghanistan, was responding to allegations first made by the Afghan president last Thursday. Karzai said the international community, and Galbraith in particular, had been responsible for "massive fraud" during last year's disastrous presidential election. "He's prone to tirades, he can be very emotional, act impulsively," Galbraith said on MSNBC television. "In fact, some of the palace insiders say that he has a certain fondness for some of Afghanistan's most profitable exports." When asked whether he was saying Karzai had a substance abuse problem, Galbraith said there were "reports to that effect". Siamak Hirawi, a spokesman for the Afghan president, said today that the former UN envoy was a liar. "What Mr Galbraith said is far away from the principle of diplomacy and it simply confirms what President Karzai was saying about [Galbraith's] involvement in corruption," said Hirawi. The White House yesterday threatened to cancel a visit by Karzai scheduled for 12 May unless his behaviour improved in the interim. The Obama administration has described as troublesome remarks by Karzai that included: accusing the US, UK and UN of orchestrating fraud in last year's election and attempting to establish a puppet government in Kabul; a reported threat to join the Taliban if Washington keeps putting pressure on him; a description of Nato forces as an army of occupation; and a suggestion that the people of Kandahar province would have a veto over an impending Nato offensive there. Karzai's spokesman today denied he had made the remark about threatening to join the Taliban. But Karzai's behaviour over the last week has confirmed the White House's long-held view that he cannot be trusted. The Afghan president was unreliable, an Obama administration official said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 A unique event, I believe both the UN rep (Karzai is a junkie) and Karzai (the UN rep is corrupt). |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-04-07 20:33 |
| #1 Drug use by which one, Obama or karzai? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-04-07 19:35 |