It makes me sick that Karzai doesn't recognize the sacrifice from the U.S. and other nations to root out terrorists in Afghanistan. But there is history and U.S. foreign policy helped make Afghanistan the corrupt, terrorist-prone nation that it is. The Afghan people have suffered severely.
Ultimately, U.S. foreign policy created Karzai and encouraged the growth of terrorism. Karzai has that to hang over our heads. Now, Obama's in a pickle. He can't withdraw now because the U.S. promised to help the Afghan people. It just so happens that their leader is far from optimal. But Karzai sure did a good job of stirring up the Obama critics in America, which may have been the purpose of his irrational statements, though at least one person seems to think Karzai is in need of drug rehab. Bing West, an author who served in the defense department in in the Reagan administration, has an interesting idea:
Here's another take from Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware who met with Karzai recently. He says Karzai is faced with change and change is hard. Kaufman says Karzai has a lot of varied concerns:The problem with building a new and better Afghanistan is that, above the local level, President Karzai has long held the levers of political power by controlling provincial finances and leadership appointments, including those of police chiefs. Regardless of the coalition’s success at the district level, an obdurate and erratic Mr. Karzai is an obstacle to progress.
The success in Marja, however, changed the dynamics of the conflict. It now seems that the planned surge of 30,000 additional troops will likely achieve progress in “clearing and holding” Kandahar and other Taliban-controlled areas by mid-2011. At that time, the force ratio will be one coalition soldier for every three Afghan soldiers and policemen, and the Afghan Army will still rely upon us for firepower and moral support.
Ideally, we could then begin to withdraw major American units and leave behind small task forces that combine advisory and combat duties, leading to a new ratio of about one American to 10 Afghans. Not only would this bring our troops home, but it would shift the responsibility for nation-building to Afghan forces.
At the same time, we would have to pivot our policy in two ways. First, Mr. Karzai should be treated as a symbolic president and given the organizational “mushroom treatment” — that is, we should shut off the flows of information and resources directly to the national government. Read the whole editorial by Bing West here.
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