Afghan president meets top US commander amid tensions over claims of Western interference
By Christopher Bodeen, APSunday, April 4, 2010
Afghan leader meets US commander amid tensions
KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai joined the commander of U.S. forces in a meeting with tribal leaders Sunday in the volatile south, amid tensions over Karzai’s recent scathing accusations of foreign interference in last year’s elections.
Karzai and Gen. Stanley McChrystal flew together to the southern city of Kandahar, deep in the heartland of the Taliban insurgency, to meet with scores of tribal elders as part of efforts to build political support ahead of an expected U.S. and NATO push into the area.
Most of the 30,000 new troops promised by President Barack Obama will be headed to Kandahar city and the surrounding province.
Speaking to the gathering, known as a shura, held under tight security at the governor’s compound, Karzai said he knew people in the area were fearful of the coming offensive.
He pledged to discuss tribal leaders’ concerns with them and said the military action would be “an operation to bring security.”
Also present at the meetings was the president’s younger brother, a key source of support in the south, despite having been publicly accused of being a major drug lord — part of the corruption and cronyism that undermines support for the government and drives Afghans to the Taliban. He denies any involvement in drugs.
After eight years in power, the central government’s writ counts for little outside the capital of Kabul, especially in the south from which the Taliban emerged as a political and military force in the 1990s. While part of that is fed by tribal rivalries, much anger is also directed at Kabul for the failure to bring security and basic services such as electricity and running water.
Sayed Ziarbaksh, a Kandahar official attending the shura, said the expected NATO offensive would only be effective if it left behind permanent institutions.
“If (troops) just come and go, it may not be worthwhile,” Ziarbaksh said. “If there is no government, then there will be Taliban in those places.”
Mark Sedwill, NATO’s current senior civilian representative, also attended the meeting as a part of his mandate to lead efforts to “find a political solution and promote stabilization” in Kandahar, spokesman Christopher Chambers said.
Despite its importance, the Kandahar visit risks being overshadowed by the fallout from Karzai’s Thursday remarks, which the White House described as troubling.
Karzai lashed out against the U.N. and the international community, accusing them of perpetrating a “vast fraud” in last year’s presidential polls as part of a conspiracy to deny him re-election or tarnish his victory.
Despite Karzai’s attempt at damage control, including a telephone conversation Saturday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, his allegations laid bare the growing mistrust between the Afghan government and its international partners as the United States and NATO ramp up troop levels to try to turn back the Taliban.
Clinton told him they should focus on common aims for stabilizing Afghanistan, according to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
“Suggestions that somehow the international community was responsible for any irregularities in the recent election is preposterous,” Crowley said.
A U.N.-backed watchdog threw out nearly a third of Karzai’s votes in the Aug. 20 ballot, forcing him into a runoff that was canceled after his remaining opponent dropped out saying he had no assurances that the second round would be any cleaner than the first.
The tone of Karzai’s remarks reflected the strain in his relations with the Obama administration, which has been far more critical of his stewardship than former President George W. Bush — especially his failure to curb corruption and improve governance.
A strong Afghan partner is key to the Obama strategy of winning over the civilian population and turning Afghans against the Taliban.
Obama flew to Kabul late last month, where he pressed the Afghan leader over the need for good governance, merit-based appointments of Afghan officials and corruption.
Elsewhere in northern Afghanistan, a friendly fire incident late Friday in which German troops mistakenly killed six Afghan soldiers appeared unlikely to damage ties with another key foreign partner.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Karzai on Saturday to express her condolences over the deaths, while Karzai expressed sympathy for the deaths of three German soldiers in fighting the same day.
German forces were sharply criticized last September when they ordered an airstrike on two tanker trucks that had been captured by the Taliban. Up to 142 people died, many of them civilians.
Tags: Afghanistan, As-afghanistan, Asia, Barack Obama, Central Asia, District Of Columbia, Europe, Friendly Fire, Germany, Kabul, Kandahar, North America, United States, War Casualties, Western Europe
