It is getting more and more difficult to find news to comment on with the all Obama all the time syndrome that the media seems determined to perpetuate. When I do, however, it's likely to be a doozie!Such is the case today when I found that Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, running for re-election, has chosen a warlord to be the senior of his two running mates.
Do you see a pattern here? When Lebanon had free elections they chose Hezbollah. The Palestinians chose Hamas. After a few tries we settled with Iraq's choice of al-Maliki. Do you get the idea that maybe the people of those countries, such as they are, don't give a care as to who we think they should elect?
According to The National Post there are a lot of very upset people over this choice. One could hope Karzai's theory is to "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" but I fear it's more an indicator of who really runs Afghanistan.
I decided to see what I could find about Mohammed Qasim Fahim and came across a website tiltled Warlords of Afghanistan . It was not a comfortable read.
As a general reference it tells us of an Afghan saying, "What you do to your enemies today, you will do to your friends tomorrow." That's not a pleasant insight to their character!
It goes on to tell us Fahim is an "awkward looking and personally unlikeable man with a temper problem. At present he is a threat to the U.S. plan for Afghanistan."
Karzai is weak and holds sway over little more than Kabul yet often scolds us for the manner in which we are helping him in his fight against the Taliban. Though Fahim was Karzai's defense minister, there is little trust between the men. That the U.S. backed Karzai over Fahim for the presidency in 2002 doesn't help.
This is one of those "I don't envy Hillary" moments I have quite often. It's also a "does Obama have clue what he's doing here" moment!
We know Karzai wants to be re-elected. If he is, what plans might Fahim have for him? These two are strange, but expedient, bedfellows. The larger problem is that we're in bed with them. This is truly the stuff of nightmares!
7 comments:
Get out! And let them have it. That's my opinion.
If you come across an authoritative article detailing what our objectives in Afghanistan are, I would like to see it. We got in there because the Taliban provided sanctuary for Bin Laden. We ended that. Now what is our objective??
More and more I think those who came before us were smart in never setting foot in the Middle East.
I don't know what they're going to do with Afghanistan or Pakistan. For that matter what are they going to do with Iraq?
I believe anybody who thinks we're going to leave the Middle East is whistling dixie. The day we sat foot in Iraq our future was set.
I better quit now. I can get on a real rant with this one. Israel is driving me crazy these days. Grrr
And with the ease that they kill each other or have each other killed, (Fahim having Karzai killed) it is a scary situation.
I don't know why we think we can change anything over there. They have been fighting for over 2,000 years.
I have heard that Democracy doesn't suit every society and I think the countries you mention apply.
All Obama, all the time. So very true...love that statement. Do you think he will ever get around to actually governing? Uhh, do you think he is actually capable of governing? Nothing he has done so far would indicate that he is (capable of governing). CU
I sooooo agree that All Obama All the Time is tiresome.
I expect that the entirely too fluid situation in Afghanistan has changed a bit since you wrote this. With the Taliban reportedly advancing toward the Pakistan border and its nukes, reasons are growing for maintaining a presence in Afghanistan. Other reasons are the protection of women, who were dying in childbirth because they could not be attended by male physicians. The photo of the woman being stoned makes as good a case as anything for why we are there.
Lastly, there is the heroin that originates Afghanistan's poppy fields.
I hate it that we are there. Now that we are, with the government in Pakistan collapsing, our withdrawal would be untimely.
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