Posted on 04/07/2010 10:05:07 PM PDT by neverdem
IN February, the Taliban sanctuary of Marja in southern Afghanistan was attacked in the largest operation of the war. Last week, President Obama flew to Afghanistan and declared, “Our troops have pushed the Taliban out of their stronghold in Marja .... The United States of America does not quit once it starts on something.”
But what is that “something”? And, equally important, does Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, have to be a part of it?
The United States ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, was guilty of understatement last fall when he told Washington that “Karzai is not an adequate strategic partner.” Still, getting rid of Mr. Karzai at this point wouldn’t be easy, and any major upheaval would clearly imperil President Obama’s plan to start withdrawing American troops next summer.
The Marja offensive, however, may have shown us an alternative approach to the war. For one thing, it demonstrated that our Karzai problem is part of a broader failure to see that our plans for Afghanistan are overambitious.
The coalition is pursuing a political-military strategy based on three tasks. First, “clear” the guerrillas from populated areas. Second, “hold” the areas with Afghan forces. Third, “build” responsible governance and development to gain the loyalty of the population for the government in Kabul. To accomplish this, the coalition military has deployed reconstruction teams to 25 provinces. We may call this a counterinsurgency program, but it’s really nation-building.
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...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Don’t worry Obama will install the “moderate” Taliban in power any day now.
“....gain the loyalty of the population for the government in Kabul.”
When has that happened in 2,000 years in Afghanistan? They are tribal nomads who fight, kill, lie, change sides and rob for a living.
Clearly the Admin. wants to dump Karzai, a la Diem.
I opened this article with exactly that thought. The left has been crying about another Viet Nam (well, not so much since the election); now another democrat can assassinate another ally.
As soon as we pull out it will be business as usual. The whole region, with the exception of Israel, is barbaric and proud of it.
it’s real simple ; Karzai needs to experience a problem in a helicopter he is flying in
I heard a rumor that President Karzai is so incensed at Øbozo that he is threatening to ally with the taliban against the US. Has anyone heard anything like this?
Do you think he would deliberately try to alienate our allies? /s
Thanks.
Like a dummie I had misspelled Afghanistan and then wondered why my search results were so poor ;(
I found several stories that show that Øbozo intends to throw Karzai under the bus and consequently allude to Karzai finding some sort of common ground with the taliban in order to out maneuver Øbozo.
There are also two recent stories where Øbozo’s minions are attempting to paint Karzai as drugged up or mentally ill. They are trying to set him up for the big fall.
It is so distressing to view this with the recognition that it is the US that is in the wrong and Karzai that is doing what he must in order to survive.
I hope that our great nation can survive Øbomination!
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