Word: karzai
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Military commanders are aware of the challenges confronting members of the NATO mission which could include 500 additional British troops standing ready for deployment as early as the end of November, provided the Karzai government gives convincing assurances of its intention to tackle corruption - and assuming Washington finally arrives at a decision. On Nov. 16, Major-General Paul Newton, the Assistant Chief of Defense Staff, announced a new British counter-insurgency doctrine - the military's first in eight years -and said it needed to be swiftly implemented. "Does this sound to you like a briefing of the sort that...
Afghan President Hamid Karzai took his oath of office for his second term Thursday, Nov. 19, in a stately inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul, finally putting an end to a drawn-out election drama mired in accusations of fraud and corruption. Dressed in his trademark violet- and green-striped cloak and karakul hat, Karzai placed his right hand on the Koran and swore to the attending chief of the Supreme Court that he would uphold the constitution of Afghanistan and lead the country into peace and stability. One can only hope he keeps that promise...
After swearing in his two Vice Presidents, Karzai launched into a lengthy speech promising a renewed commitment to peace and stability in Afghanistan. Sidestepping the issue of fraud that had marred the election, he instead praised the courageous Afghans who braved Taliban threats to vote and promised to strengthen democracy. By the end of his five-year term, Afghan security forces would be "capable of taking the lead in ensuring security and stability across the country," he said. Corruption and bribery, he announced, "constitute a very dangerous problem," one that he would combat through legal reform and the strengthening...
...Karzai government's poor standing among the Afghan people is generally acknowledged as a problem in that not many Afghans are going to be willing to risk their lives to defend it. Karzai is as aware as his people of the limits of control on the ground by NATO forces and the certainty that they'll leave at some point. And so he has been protecting his interests by making deals with some pretty unsavory characters who wield real power on the ground - and that often requires turning a blind eye to corruption and other transgressions. Washington is looking...
...Even if Karzai did a more effective job of governing, it's far from clear how many Afghans would be willing to fight their fellow Afghans in the Taliban. While poverty and corruption at the local level certainly fuel the resentment on which the Taliban capitalizes, it is not a protest movement against bad governance as much an insurgency rooted in Islamic and nationalist identities that challenges a political order installed and defended by foreign armies...