SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Afghanistan Just Got Messier
Nov 02, 2009
The mess that is Afghanistan just got messier for Washington.
Abdullah's withdrawal from the presidential runoff leaves Hamid Karzai in power but without legitimacy.
He's widely perceived to have rigged the last election, and Abdullah
took himself out, he says, because he couldn't be assured that Kazai
wouldn't do it again.
And then they cancelled the election with only Karzai in it, citing
security and cost reasons. But maybe they didn't want to deal with the
embarrassment of Karzai running unopposed, or the even deeper
humiliation of a tiny turnout.
As a result, though, Karzai has become further delegitimized.
He was already in the soup. People in Afghanistan recognize that
he's corrupt. And Malalai Joya, the outspoken feminist who was booted
from parliament, has been denouncing him for years now for surrounding
himself with drug lords and warlords and war criminals. Even his own
brother is involved in the drug trade.
In Afghanistan, Joya says, Karzai is seen, correctly, as a
Washington stooge. And we're seen there, correctly, as an occupying
power.
We've been down this road before.
In Vietnam, the United States propped up one illegitimate leader
after another, but that didn't help the war effort at all. It only
further alienated the people of Vietnam.
We're seeing the same thing happening in Afghanistan right now.
Karzai is our guy in Kabul, but that's about it. Many if not most
people in Afghanistan disdain him. And the more he plays ball with
Washington, the less support he has at home.
The United States can't defeat an insurgency by backing an illegitimate government.
And the United States can't defeat an insurgency when the American people are already opposed to the war.
Obama needs to realize all this, reverse course, and head for the exits, before he makes matters even worse.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 The Progressive
Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Prior to joining the Democracy Campaign at the start of 2015, Matt worked at The Progressive Magazine for 32 years. For most of those, he was the editor and publisher of The Progressive.
The mess that is Afghanistan just got messier for Washington.
Abdullah's withdrawal from the presidential runoff leaves Hamid Karzai in power but without legitimacy.
He's widely perceived to have rigged the last election, and Abdullah
took himself out, he says, because he couldn't be assured that Kazai
wouldn't do it again.
And then they cancelled the election with only Karzai in it, citing
security and cost reasons. But maybe they didn't want to deal with the
embarrassment of Karzai running unopposed, or the even deeper
humiliation of a tiny turnout.
As a result, though, Karzai has become further delegitimized.
He was already in the soup. People in Afghanistan recognize that
he's corrupt. And Malalai Joya, the outspoken feminist who was booted
from parliament, has been denouncing him for years now for surrounding
himself with drug lords and warlords and war criminals. Even his own
brother is involved in the drug trade.
In Afghanistan, Joya says, Karzai is seen, correctly, as a
Washington stooge. And we're seen there, correctly, as an occupying
power.
We've been down this road before.
In Vietnam, the United States propped up one illegitimate leader
after another, but that didn't help the war effort at all. It only
further alienated the people of Vietnam.
We're seeing the same thing happening in Afghanistan right now.
Karzai is our guy in Kabul, but that's about it. Many if not most
people in Afghanistan disdain him. And the more he plays ball with
Washington, the less support he has at home.
The United States can't defeat an insurgency by backing an illegitimate government.
And the United States can't defeat an insurgency when the American people are already opposed to the war.
Obama needs to realize all this, reverse course, and head for the exits, before he makes matters even worse.
Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Prior to joining the Democracy Campaign at the start of 2015, Matt worked at The Progressive Magazine for 32 years. For most of those, he was the editor and publisher of The Progressive.
The mess that is Afghanistan just got messier for Washington.
Abdullah's withdrawal from the presidential runoff leaves Hamid Karzai in power but without legitimacy.
He's widely perceived to have rigged the last election, and Abdullah
took himself out, he says, because he couldn't be assured that Kazai
wouldn't do it again.
And then they cancelled the election with only Karzai in it, citing
security and cost reasons. But maybe they didn't want to deal with the
embarrassment of Karzai running unopposed, or the even deeper
humiliation of a tiny turnout.
As a result, though, Karzai has become further delegitimized.
He was already in the soup. People in Afghanistan recognize that
he's corrupt. And Malalai Joya, the outspoken feminist who was booted
from parliament, has been denouncing him for years now for surrounding
himself with drug lords and warlords and war criminals. Even his own
brother is involved in the drug trade.
In Afghanistan, Joya says, Karzai is seen, correctly, as a
Washington stooge. And we're seen there, correctly, as an occupying
power.
We've been down this road before.
In Vietnam, the United States propped up one illegitimate leader
after another, but that didn't help the war effort at all. It only
further alienated the people of Vietnam.
We're seeing the same thing happening in Afghanistan right now.
Karzai is our guy in Kabul, but that's about it. Many if not most
people in Afghanistan disdain him. And the more he plays ball with
Washington, the less support he has at home.
The United States can't defeat an insurgency by backing an illegitimate government.
And the United States can't defeat an insurgency when the American people are already opposed to the war.
Obama needs to realize all this, reverse course, and head for the exits, before he makes matters even worse.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.