This time it's a trap that may have been set deliberately. But whether that ever turns out to have been true or not, Obama has been left with the responsibility for getting us out of Afghanistan, a plan that's about as difficult to follow through on as any. Karzai certainly isn't helping. A deft and multiple profiteer as well as political leader, Karzai is probably wholly responsible for the growing rift with our current administration in Washington.
Mr. Obama is committed to ending America’s military involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and Obama administration officials have been negotiating with Afghan officials about leaving a small “residual force” behind. But his relationship with Mr. Karzai has been slowly unraveling, and reached a new low after an effort last month by the United States to begin peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
Mr. Karzai promptly repudiated the talks and ended negotiations with the United States over the long-term security deal that is needed to keep American forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
A videoconference between Mr. Obama and Mr. Karzai designed to defuse the tensions ended badly, according to both American and Afghan officials with knowledge of it. Mr. Karzai, according to those sources, accused the United States of trying to negotiate a separate peace with both the Taliban and their backers in Pakistan, leaving Afghanistan’s fragile government exposed to its enemies. ...NYT
Much of Washington, dependent to such a large extent on military spending, would just as soon continue to support Karzai. So this is a domestic political issue as much as it's an issue of ending a military commitment that probably never should have been made. It was all about Osama bin Laden -- remember? He was in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan. But turned out to be living in a suburban house in Pakistan. And where the next president, thanks to a small, highly professional group of Navy Seals, found him and did the job and cleaned up a problem dating from 2002.
Oil pipelines? No longer a pressing issue that can be trotted out as an excuse to keep troops in Afghanistan. We're increasingly committed to getting off the oil habit. Next, we need to do something about the war habit.
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Margaret Hartmann writes at Daily Intel about the Obama-Karzai rift.
Removing all troops from Afghanistan was always a possibility, but the Times reports that it was previously the "worst-case scenario." A senior Western official in Kabul said he hopes the Karzai government is starting to understand that it's a strong possibility, and that "they’re learning now, not later, when it’s going to be too late." The front-page Times article explaining that Obama is seriously fed up with Karzai should help drive the point home. ...Daily Intel
