What Substance Are Karzai's Marbles Made Of?
by Justin Rashid
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been courting controversy lately. He blamed the U.N. for the fraud that marred the 2009 presidential elections, claiming there was an international conspiracy to stop him being re-elected. He threatened to block a NATO summer offensive against insurgents in the south. Oh, and he's been accused of being an overly emotional heroin addict, irredeemably corrupt, and an incapable partner of the U.S. Even more bizarrely, it is also alleged that he privately threatened to quit the political process and join the Taliban.
Let's look at each in turn. Why would Karzai pick a verbal fight with the West, one that seems to have escalated to a personal one-on-one with the White House? Well, Karzai was essentially installed as president by the U.S. after the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001 and the subsequent Bonn Process. Ever since, many Afghans have accused Karzai of being a U.S. puppet, enjoying money from the West, sitting back and letting NATO troops run about the country. Recently though, Karzai's bubble in Kabul has been burst. The past nine months have seen an increase in attacks in the Afghan capital, and locals are suffering economically as property prices skyrocket. Perhaps the people around Karzai are finally urging him to show them what his marbles are made of. Perhaps standing up to the U.S. is his way of doing it.
On a visit to his home province of Kandahar, Karzai was sharply cricitised by elders for not doing enough to stem corruption and nepotism. The elders also told Karzai that the former Taliban capital was not ready for a NATO offensive against insurgents, which U.S. troops are preparing for this summer. (By the way, did anybody ask this question ahead of other NATO offensives, such as Operation Moshtarak?) Karzai replied that he might delay or even cancel the offensive. Listening to the elders in this way sounds like a president doing his job, but it has compounded U.S. frustration with Karzai.
These actions led Peter Galbraith, former U.N. representative in Afghanistan, to call Karzai an incapable partner for the U.S. By way of explanation, Galbraith hints that Karzai's marbles may be made of Afghanistan's top export (opium). Crazy comments like "maybe I'll join the Taliban" suddenly make sense.
So what if Karzai's marbles are made of opium? At least he seems to have some marbles at all. Opium is woven so tightly into the fabric of Afghanistan that it would be unusual if Karzai was not connected to drugs somehow. His brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is well-known within Afghanistan to reap huge profits from the opium trade. The same goes for corruption and nepotism.
Western standards of zero tolerance for drugs and corruption cannot and should not be applied to Afghanistan because they have been part of the culture there for thousands of years. Yes, their levels should be managed to a reasonable point, but we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking they can be eliminated altogether. You can be corrupt and on drugs and still make the right decision.
Karzai is emotional at the moment? That doesn't mean he's on drugs. Afghans are emotional people. It's actually about time Karzai showed some emotion.
Justin Rashid is a graduate student in the Masters of Public Diplomacy program. This op-ed is part of a partnership between Neon Tommy and the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars (www.uscapds.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment