Word: karzai
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...Sherzai also got to meet Barack Obama before President Hamid Karzai did. When the then Senator Obama visited Afghanistan last July as part of a congressional delegation, his first stop was the provincial capital of Jalalabad, Sherzai's seat. The visit, arranged by the U.S. State Department, did not appear to have been chosen for any other reason than convenience: Jalalabad is just a half-hour flight from Kabul, and Sherzai's successes in the province were considered emblematic of potential solutions elsewhere in the country. "The Obama visit is what started it all," says Nasir Ahmad, one of Sherzai...
...hackles a Sherzai campaign for the Aug. 20 polls would have raised, his abrupt withdrawal invokes the specter of a lackluster election season destined to demoralize Afghans already wary of the unfulfilled promises of democracy. Sherzai was widely considered the only candidate who could mount a robust challenge against Karzai - whose popularity has plummeted after seven years of ineffective rule and allegations of corruption and nepotism. On May 2, however, Sherzai met privately with the President for four hours. After he emerged Sherzai announced that he had changed his mind and would no longer...
...Sherzai had continued with his campaign he would have had to step down from his presidential-appointed post as governor - a prestigious and influential position he would be unlikely to regain if he lost to Karzai. A spokesman for Sherzai said his boss "decided Karzai would be a better leader for Afghanistan." Sherzai's campaign manager was stunned. "This is an absolute betrayal of everything we worked on," spluttered Khalid Pashtoon...
...Competiton or no, Karzai would probably win the election anyway. He has the benefit of incumbency in a country accustomed to a monarchy, and the opposition parties are fractured. But while Sherzai is no white knight, his candidacy would have lent the election greater legitimacy. It would have given Afghans a chance to get fully involved in the election process, to discuss policies and platforms. Now Afghans are deprived of at least the perception of choice, and of having a say in their future...
When Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office recently said it was holding peace talks with the Taliban, the Taliban countered with a press release. A spokesman for the militants dismissed Karzai's announcement as a propaganda ploy to suggest a schism within the Taliban's ranks. Not only was that not true, the press release that was subsequently sent to journalists announced the start of the Taliban's spring offensive, dubbed "Operation Victory." It was the latest exchange in a critical second front in the Afghan war - a war of words that U.S. and Kabul government officials privately concede they...