How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless puppet.
Afghanistan President
To paraphrase Lord
Does Karzai mean it when he threatens to cross over to the other
side, or is he bluffing, hedging his bets in the wake of President
Obama's pledge to begin withdrawing U.S. troops next year? Only he knows
for sure, but with the intrigues common in that region of the world, it
wouldn't be a surprise to see him switch sides if it suits his interests
and those of his brother
The Obama administration has brought some of Karzai's erratic
behavior on itself. When Obama was on his way for a surprise visit to
For a policy or pronouncement to have credibility it must be attached
to a credible threat of action. Secretary of State
The same is true when it comes to Karzai. What can the U.S. ultimately do to persuade Karzai to clean up corruption in his government, other than jawboning? He might ask us to get the log out of our own eye first by reforming congressional corruption before we concern ourselves with the speck in his eye.
The U.S. has had a history of backing some unsavory characters out of
necessity and not always from conviction. There probably is no one
better than the current Afghan leader to run the country, however
poorly. There could be people who are much worse, including the Taliban,
which once ran things and used
In the pursuit of success, the United States might have to swallow hard and deal with the questionable leader we know so that it doesn't have to deal with the Taliban leaders whose goals we know all too well.
Meanwhile, if Karzai visits the U.S. next month, he might try bringing an olive branch and some solid promises to clean up his act, given all that America has done for him. That seems a small price to pay in exchange for our dead and wounded troops who have tried to help him stabilize his country.
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