Afghanistan: Karzai Defends His Record During Washington Appearance

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, along with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, is in Washington for meetings with top US officials, including President Barack Obama. During a public appearance May 5, Karzai defended his administration's record and offered a stout defense of his choice of a former warlord to be one of his running mates in Afghanistan's August presidential election.

Karzai officially registered in Kabul on May 4 as a presidential candidate. He also announced at that time that one of his running mates would be Muhammed Qasim Fahim, a former mujahedeen and anti-Taliban guerrilla who has a record of human rights abuses.

At a speech at the Brookings Institution, Karzai offered fulsome praise for Fahim, who previously served as defense minister and vice president during the early post-Taliban era. Karzai forced Fahim out as vice president in 2004. Now, he wants to bring the warlord back into his administration out of a desire to counteract an impression that those who led the fight against Soviet occupation and Taliban oppression are no longer appreciated.

"That [impression] is something I wanted to correct," Karzai said. "We need a man or a woman on whom we can rely in hard times, for a president that is extremely important, and Fahim khan can deliver that. Fahim contributed immensely to the war against terrorism, shoulder-to-shoulder with US soldiers in Afghanistan."

When Karzai first came to office in 2002 after the US-led blitz ousted the Taliban from Kabul, his political moderation, fluent English and dashing style made him a darling in Washington. But his luster has long since faded among Washington policymakers, many of whom believe that Karzai is ineffective as a leader and lacks the political will to confront government corruption. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

During his Brookings appearance, Karzai sought to dispel such concerns. In response to a question about whether the United States still trusted him, Karzai acknowledged that relations have soured a bit over the past 18 months, but suggested that it was because of his complaints about civilian casualties from US air strikes, not because of any American concerns about his ability to govern. And overall, he insisted, the strategic partnership between Washington and Kabul remains strong. "The trust is there, it just has to be 'washed' a little," he said.

He only briefly mentioned the Taliban insurgency and touch on the drug trade at all, instead speaking in gauzy tones about the progress that has been made in Afghanistan over the last seven years. He cited improved health services, education, roads, the building of democratic institutions, and the strong performance of girls in schools and universities. "That is a tremendous achievement and that achievement could not have been there without the help provided by your [US] taxpayers," he said.

Afghanistan aspired to be a first-world country, which would attract tourists and provide cheap information technology outsourcing to the West, as India does today. "In 15 years Afghanistan should be a partner, not a burden," he said.

He closed his speech with an appeal for aid. "One of our election agendas is to strengthen the partnership with America, which means more money from America," he said.