Word: karzai
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...many of the Afghan warlords whom the U.S. relied on to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda were involved in the drug trade. Now, officials say, the Obama Administration is taking a tough approach to drugs in Afghanistan, sparing no one, not even friends and associates of President Hamid Karzai. "Everyone's fair game," says a Western counternarcotics official in Kabul. "If someone comes within reach of our investigation, nothing is going to stop us from making a case." (See pictures of the presidential election in Afghanistan...
...semblance of normality has returned to Marjah under the watchful presence of 15,000 NATO and Afghan forces. Even President Karzai, who seldom leaves his Kabul palace for fear of assassination, was emboldened to pay a flying visit to a local mosque on March 7. He listened while local elders scolded him over his choices of corrupt officials posted to Marjah and the civilian casualties caused by the NATO assault. They also demanded that he build schools and hospitals and provide jobs. "They had some very legitimate complaints - very, very legitimate," Karzai said soberly as he left the mosque. "They...
...American officials say Karzai knows he must deliver good government to Marjah - something he has failed to do in Kabul - and quickly, or the drug syndicates will be back. Much of the burden will fall to dozens of Afghan officials who arrived on the back of the military offensive to set up a new local administration - McChrystal's so-called government in a box. It has not gotten off to a promising start, though. Abdul Zahir Aryan, the man picked to be the district chief of the new Marjah administration, has a far-from-stellar record. He left for Germany...
...Gitmo interrogators believed him, even while he was plotting revenge against his captors. In December 2007, he was flown back home, placed in an Afghan prison near Kabul and released shortly after, perhaps as a result of his tribal connections; his Ahunzada tribe from Helmand was considered a Karzai ally. Commenting on why such a lethal foe was freed from Gitmo, a NATO general - who asked not to be identified - replied with a shake of his head, "Human intelligence is guesswork at best. You never know if someone like this will go peacefully back to their tribe...
...whom he has known and fought alongside since he was a teenager in the 1980s, taking potshots at Soviet soldiers. Zaeef's views are said to reflect those of the Taliban leadership. As such, he may be poised to play a key role in any future peace talks between Karzai and the Taliban's governing council. And, according to Zaeef, there is room for maneuver. He insists that the Taliban are not fighting to regain power. "Mullah Omar says he doesn't want to destroy [Karzai's] government, but only to repair it." But, he adds, "Mullah Omar also wants...