Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, was in Washington on Tuesday. A mere month ago, Hamid Karzai’s corruption made him everybody’s dirt bag. In April the Washington Post reported the White House hinted it had considered canceling Hamid Karzai’s scheduled meeting with President Obama on Wednesday. .
Election for Hamid Karzai
The Hamid Karzai election marked when the administration’s displeasure with Hamid Karzai’s corruption became public. In 2009, widespread fraud was exposed in Hamid Karzai’s election to a second term as president of Afghanistan’s. After Karzai won, he blames the west for this fraud within the vote. He publicly criticized the western government for propping him up, while wearing his Karzai hat, and got cozy with fellow puppet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Meanwhile, the U.S. spends about $6.3 billion a month in an unsecured loan to Afghanistan, according to an October 2009 report from the Congressional Research Service.
Hamid Karzai corruption
Although Hamid Karzai may be puppet for the US, America may have lost their grip on him recently. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greeted Karzai warmly in a formal reception at the State Department. The Obama administration could have to deal with Karzai for at least four more years. After Karzai was pressured by the US to a do over election, the opposition withdrew. The Obama administration is now finding themselves locked into a relationship. Plans in Afghanistan for The United States no depend on a leader who is corrupt and despises his handlers. Karzai is using this situation to get as much as he can.
The Hamid Karzai hat
Hamid Karzai, after bad-mouthing the coalition of countries sacrificing blood and treasure to keep him in Karzai hats made from aborted lamb fetuses, now whines about being abandoned. The political theatre being played out for Karzai should feed his ego and calm his anxiety. By July 2011, Obama plans on pulling out all troops. If the U.S. achieves that very specific goal, Karzai, who has survived 3 assassination attempts as Afghanistan’s president, is making it known that he will seek a new protector.
Hamid Karzai’s brother
Hamid Karzai’s half brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, extends this corruption into Kandahar Province where he leads its Provisional Council. The US plans that by the end of the year the Taliban can be driven out of Kandahar province. Speaking of Hamid Karzai as a partner in such an effort, Peter Galbraith, a previous U.N. envoy to Afghanistan told MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown”:
“He’s prone to tirades. He can be very emotional, act impulsively. In fact, some of the palace insiders say that he has a certain fondness for some of Afghanistan’s most profitable exports.”
Galbraith was talking about opium. Suspected of getting rich from opium trade in one of the world’s poorest countries is Ahmad Wali. The Obama administration doesn’t have much evidence yet and the Karzai brothers deny this completely.
What a guy Hamid Karzai is
For his latest visit to Washington, Hamid Karzai was personally escorted on his flight from Kabul by none other than Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, the ambassador to Afghanistan. The New York Times reports that Eikenberry intends to assure reporters at the White House that he now has faith in the Afghan president’s determination to succeed. Last November, in leaked classified cables obtained by the New York Times, Eikenberry told the Obama administration that Karzai “is not an adequate strategic partner” and “continues to shun responsibility for any sovereign burden”.
Hamid Karzai and in deep
Eikenberry knew what he was talking about in criticizing Karzai. He served as the top American commander in Afghanistan in 2002-03 and is now retired. Within the classified cables, he warned that a major military commitment to Afghanistan would result in “astronomical costs” — which means tens of billions of dollars — and would deepen the dependence of the Afghan government on the United States. Many that has come to pass.
Resources for the article
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040602175.html
MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34689185/
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/world/asia/11karzai.html?ref=us
