The words to an old 1960′s song goes something like this;  “One, two, three, four, what are we fighting for?  Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn, next stop is  (Afghanistan).”  Well, actually the words to song said “Viet Nam”,  but the sentiment still applies.   The United States is  building up military forces and equipment in Afghanistan at a feverish pitch, even while  relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai continue to rapidly worsen.   Apparently, Mr. Karzai felt that President Obama’s  recent trip to Kabul for meetings was an effort to manipulate him, and to scold him as an ineffectual leader.  The hot-headed and somewhat erratic Karzai decided to show his defiance by making two anti-American speeches over the course of three days.   In his remarks to parliament on Saturday, Mr. Karzai said that  if  foreign interference  in his government continues (i.e. the United States), the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance; one that he might even join.  He went on to publicly rebuke the U.S. government by saying ” Our most important ally is constantly criticizing us: you are corrupt.  You need to do this and that.  You cannot talk down to the Afghans like they are children or they don’t understand”.  Karzai’s recent remarks have send further shock waves through the State Department, where mistrust for the Afghan leader is already at a high level due to the wildly corrupt election that propelled him to a second term as president.

It would seem that the American government’s Afghanistan  policy  is being put between the proverbial “rock and a hard place”.   Mr. Karzai, who owes his position and probably his very existence, to the overthrow of the Taliban government in a 2001 invasion, has become emboldened by the corrupt election that kept him in power.  Under the protection of the U.S.  military in Afghanistan , Mr. Karzai has been able to hold secretive meetings with the Iranians, the Pakistanis, and the Taliban itself.  While American soldiers die on the battlefields of Southern Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai has been negotiating a separate deal with the Taliban that would allow for a cozy power-sharing arrangement.  In his own words, Mr. Karzai suggested the Taliban was  a “legitimate” resistance movement, which had the equally “legitimate” goal of getting rid of all foreign interference, including the United States of America.

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was a bad idea to begin with, and has now lasted almost ten years with no determinable results.  There is no legitimate government, and no credible election process.  The country’s administration is totally corrupt at all levels, the Afghan army controls no territory outside of Kabul, and the Taliban is stronger than ever.  The only chance that the U.S. government has for an “honorable” withdrawal of forces would be to actively support a power-sharing arrangement between the Karzai Administration and the Taliban.  Although this would amount to a “defeat” for American policy in the region, at least it would stop the senseless loss of American lives and the expenditure of $100 billion every year in taxpayer money.  If something is not done very soon to stop the escalation in U.S. troop levels, and to begin a complete withdrawal, America may find itself fighting against a formidable coalition of  Karzai supporters and  the Taliban, all armed to the teeth with Iranian-made weapons.

Rich

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