A new president for Afghanistan will not be a solution to anything unless he gets the support and the freedom to maneuver which Karzai was denied, said The Guardian in an editorial yesterday. Excerpts:
The Obama administration seems to have already made up its mind that Karzai is part of the Afghan problem and must go. It was agreed last year that presidential elections would have to be postponed until August because the conditions for a safe and valid vote could not be assured in the spring. The assumption was that Karzai would carry on as president for the interim period, but now he faces a demand that he step down and let a caretaker government take control. The barely concealed intention is to deprive him of the advantages of incumbency in the election. He is now thought to be considering calling the election at the earlier date. Presumably his hope is to confound and confuse his opponents and put the Americans on the spot.
It is true that Karzai is no longer the leader Afghanistan needs. He tolerates corruption and has many weaknesses. Yet what has really undermined him has been the failure of America and of the other coalition states to provide him with the means to remake his country. When troops were needed in the early stage of his presidency to create secure conditions, at a time when it would have been relatively easy to do so, they were not sent.
When aid was needed to bring employment and restore economic life, it did not arrive. When it was obvious that airstrikes were killing innocent people in unacceptable numbers, he could only protest. And when it became clear that negotiations with the insurgents were an essential part of any sensible strategy, the Americans stood in the way. Among the contenders to succeed Karzai, there are some who impress, notably Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister.
