Sun editorial:

Five more years with Karzai

Obama right to question president of Afghanistan about government corruption

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

President Barack Obama is agonizing over one of the toughest decisions of his young administration — whether to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan or whether to pull out.

The decision might be easier to make if Afghanistan had a stable, reform-minded government that was free of corruption. There is merit in helping a nation that wants to embrace democracy but needs help fighting Taliban insurgents that have shown support for al-Qaida terrorists.

That is why Obama could not have been blamed Monday when he warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai that he must do a better job of cleaning up corruption in Afghanistan’s government. The warning came after Karzai won a new five-year term in office by default when his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of a runoff election that was scheduled to occur Saturday. Abdullah had expressed concerns about potential voting irregularities, which plagued a summer election.

While Karzai is seen as a friend of the United States, he has sorely tested that relationship by presiding over a government that is widely viewed as incompetent and corrupt. As quoted by the Associated Press, Obama aptly said of his phone conversation with Karzai: “I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter.”

Karzai should realize that Americans have a right to question whether it is worth risking the lives of U.S. troops for a government that has proved so far to be an embarrassment on the world stage. Critics charge that Karzai has presided over a government that is guilty of electoral misconduct and is beholden to warlords. Karzai also has a brother who has been linked to his nation’s lucrative opium trade.

Many Americans want Obama to expedite his decision one way or the other on troop levels in Afghanistan. But the president deserves credit for carefully weighing the options rather than acting in haste.

That is especially important now that we know that Afghanistan will have Karzai as president for at least five more years.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By Future

11/4/09 at 2:22 a.m.

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"Karzai should realize that Americans have a right to question whether it is worth risking the lives of U.S. troops for a government that has proved so far to be an embarrassment"

It is not all about Karzai. That totally misses the point.

Biden is saying conditions have changed since March when Obama put his strategy in place.
In March Obama sent thinly spread out unsupported troops expanding out into the Afghanistan wilderness settlements exposing them to local attacks.

Unfortunately Obama also placed new restrictive rules of engagement on our troops and gave the enemy many civilian civil liberties. Now with the 2009 summer offense nearly over the military is saying they need more troops to fight under Obama's rules.

What is not clear is why Obama is laying the blame on "failure" in Afghanistan on President Hamid Karzai and the Afghanistan central government.

Afghanistan never signed up for duty.
There was no strong central government in Afghanistan when the USA went in to rout the Taliban, which harbored the Al-Qaida.

Afghanistan still does not want a strong central government.

Now Obama is demanding that Afghanistan develop an "adequate" government, an army, and a police force. Why should Afghanistan?
Obama needs to have a strategy to win without Hamid Karzai and a strong central government.

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We should not be there for nation building, but just be in the shadows doing our thing with as few people as possible.

Bush understood this hence his containment strategy of using Spooks and Drones to attack whenever and wherever the Taliban and Al-Qaida popped up.
By LarryVegas

11/4/09 at 10:27 a.m.

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"President Barack Obama is agonizing over one of the toughest decisions of his young administration -- whether to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan or whether to pull out."

What a bunch of crap...

President Barack Obama is agonizing over one of the toughest decisions of his young administration -- how to pull out U.S. troops in Afghanistan without the American people throwing him and his friends out of office...
By NLV-Indep13

11/4/09 at 1:29 p.m.

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How about cleaning up corruption in the US Congress first, then lecturing other people?

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