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Obama changes pace on Afghanistan
Melbourne Age - November 4, 2009
Anne Davies – After spending weeks trying to persuade Hamid Karzai to accept a run-off election to legitimise his leadership, US President Barack Obama and his aides spent Monday trying to explain how the Afghan President can be considered a legitimate leader without one.
In a phone call, Mr Obama congratulated Mr Karzai on the news that a second poll will now not be necessary, saying that although the process had been messy, he was pleased there had been a final outcome determined in accordance with Afghan law.
But he also issued a clear warning to Mr Karzai. He told reporters in Washington: "I emphasised that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter based on improved governance, a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption, joint efforts to accelerate the training of Afghan security forces so that the Afghan people can provide for their own security.
"He assured me that he understood the importance of this moment, but as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words, it's going to be in deeds."
The decision to call off the second run-off poll after opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah pulled out is a new snarl in the already complex web of factors being considered by the White House as it ponders what to do in Afghanistan.
Last week, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, stressed the importance of having a legitimate Afghan government in place if the US was to proceed with a counter-insurgency strategy aimed at securing the country and eventually handing over control to Afghans.
Senator Kerry, a Vietnam veteran, was acutely aware that trying to fight for a government that lacked the respect of the population was futile. The effort in trying to prop up the government of South Vietnam in the face of widespread support for the Vietcong had shown as much.
The senator had spent time in Kabul 10 days ago winning Mr Karzai around to the idea of a second-round election.
It was always likely that Mr Karzai would win a second vote but, provided it too was not riddled by fraud, it might have helped his standing. Dr Abdullah continues to argue that the second election would have been similarly flawed, but perhaps he too calculated that he would lose. He can now concentrate on coming parliamentary and provincial elections.
The U-turn does not help Mr Obama, who must make the most difficult decision of his presidency so far. Should he commit the extra 40,000 troops needed to prosecute a counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan? And if he does commit more troops, can the other part of the mission – rebuilding government, schools, roads and the economy – be achieved with Mr Karzai as his partner? He is expected to make his troop decision in coming weeks.
The widespread electoral fraud was problem enough. Last week The New York Times ran an expose on the activities of Hamid Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who heads the provincial council in Kandahar. It alleged Ahmed Wali was involved in the heroin trade and paying militias, while being on the payroll of the CIA. He has denied the allegations, and the CIA has refused to comment.
Mr Obama said he emphasised to Mr Karzai that the international community wanted to continue to partner him and his Government in achieving prosperity and security in Afghanistan.
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