Read the inside story on how Obama lost Karzai.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was a well-known figure in Afghan politics when he took office: His father was a prominent figure in the Afghan parliament in the 1960s and a leader of the Popalzai tribe. The younger Karzai had been an advisor to and spokesman for moderate members of the anti-Soviet mujahideen in the early 1980s. Karzai sits in the presidential palace in Kabul on Dec. 15, 2002, nearly a year into his interim appointment as president.
Phil Goodwin/Getty Images
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JAYDEE001
1:31 PM ET
February 24, 2011
So what?
So Karzai does not really appreciate all our efforts in Afghanistan. Why should he? We are not there for his benefit, nor for the benefit of the Afghan people. The last thing we should expect here, or in Iraq, is gratitude for all the lives and money we have spent on either country.
We went to Afghanistan, if memory serves, to hunt for OBL and his Taliban hosts, and to drive al Qaeda underground. They all left for Pakistan, then returned as a guerilla force, supported in many cases by the local population, who have had no use for any leaders imposed on them by outside powers. So, we changed our mission to building a government that would - with lots of US military force and money - keep those evil people from coming back to power. While we have been playing whack-a-mole with al Qaeda and its sponsors, and diddling away lives and money in Iraq, Afghanistan has hung suspended without a truly representative government. It is still a collection of tribal forces with no allegience to the central government. It will probably be so when the last US military forces leave.
For now, Karzai remains the mayor of Kabul, and his disputed victory in the election means that we have no real partner in the area. That we actually expected to find one is the real mystery. When the US and its allies finally realize the futility of continuing this frustrating and debilitating campaign and leave, Karzai is unlikely to survive, and he has reason to be concerned as he is no doubt aware of what happened to the guy the Russians left in charge when they pulled out. He has no reason to trust the US or its allies, nor should he do so. Less clear is what the US expects from him. And it is no longer clear what we expect to result from this longest military adventure either.
We can certainly maintain 'homeland security' without sending forces all over the world to fight a terrorist foe that has forces in many places - the Arabian penninsula, North Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan and even Europe. We have had to abandon despots we supported for years in Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and other countries too numerous to mention. Karzai's future is of little consequence to us and he knows that.
MEDOLOSS
3:02 PM ET
February 24, 2011
I hope
I hope that I live until there is no dectators and bad presidents anywhere in the world...