Karzai sworn in for 2nd term, vows to combat corruption

[steven johnson]

Source: Washington Post

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, November 19, 2009; 4:48 AM

KABUL--President Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term on Thursday morning in a ceremony in which he made peace and reconciliation his top priority and said he wanted Afghans to assume control of their own security by the end of his five-year term.

In a 30-minute acceptance speech in the presidential palace, Karzai hit many of the same notes that he had during the election. He invited insurgent fighters to lay down their arms and said he would convene a grand council to promote reconciliation.

Karzai spoke in front of hundreds of people including a host of foreign dignitaries, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

Karzai's new term begins amid growing doubts within the Obama administration of Karzai's ability to control the bribery and cronyism that have sapped the Afghan public's confidence in the government. The growing Taliban violence has also become an urgent concern, and Obama said he is very close to making a decision about whether to send thousands more American soldiers into

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111900455.html

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I think Karzai causes more problems than he solves.

[saigon68]

1. WHEN PIGS FLY

This disgusting Drug lord enabler only cares about the millions he is salting away in a European Bank or 2

[ixion]

2. exactly...

the only thing he's going to do is find out who the moles are.

[Roland99]

3. There's reallly no practical or feasible way to "reform" that nation. At least not in our lifetimes

Going to take decades or even centuries for Afghanistan to move past tribal factions sparring for power and move toward a shared democracy.

[karynnj]

4. I think it depends on what you define as "reform"

From comments from people like Obama, Clinton, Biden, Kerry etc, I don't see anyone holding out the concept of shared democracy. What they are asking is less - a government that could provide security and services to people and that will provide a safe haven for Al Qaeda. There is a lot of talk of that governance coming from local leaders. Even that may be too optimistic. (The only people who still think we can get a westernized democracy are people like John McCain and neocons.)

One of the one eye opening comments at a SFRC hearing was an estimate by one expert that in terms of a functioning economic system, it would likely take 30 years of sustained aid to get Afghanistan to the level that Pakistan is now at.

[Roland99]

7. Yeah, the problem is finding something that Afghanistan can produce (aside from poppy)

And there will have to be some form of negotiating with the Taliban. This war has dragged on and morphed into fighting the Taliban moreso than any remnants of "al Qaeda".

Reduce it to Special Forces/CIA going after al-Zawahiri and bin Laden and pull our troops home.

[karynnj]

8. At a February SFRC, there was a great solution from a young MA woman who had lived outside Khandahar

for a few years.

She suggested that as Afghanistan has in the past grown excellent pomegranates, almonds, and apricots, that the US pay farmers to nuture seedlings of these trees for the time (I think she said 5 years) needed for them to bear fruit. The case she made was that, at the point the orchards produced fruit, they would provide the farmers with income comparable to what they get for growing poppies. It would also be something that would give them pride and a vested interest in the community.

She pointed out that, unlike other crops that did not require multiple years, it would not be economic for farmers to cut the trees down and revert to poppies once they were bearing fruit.

Here is a link to the roundtable hearing which is misidentified as a business meeting - http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2009/hrg090205a.html

I agree with you they will end up pulling in some, if not all of the Taliban.

[Roland99]

9. Thanks for that info!

And, hey, almonds could see a rise in popularity here in the U.S. as one food item to eat to combat obesity and cholesterol:

http://www.prevention.com/flatbellyfoodslideshow/2.html

[karynnj]

10. Nice to know that, as they really taste good!

[sattahipdeep]

5. “They should all go to hell ... What's happened in the last five years?

Afghan president pledges to tackle corruption and says his
country's security forces should be ready to take over
responsibility of unstable areas in three years.

Kabul's streets were deserted early on Thursday with armoured
vehicles blocking off major roads. Security officers were even
stopping people from walking on the streets.

The government has declared Thursday a holiday and reporters
were barred from attending the swearing-in ceremony.

“They should all go to hell ... What's happened in the last five
years? It will just be the same again,” said Mohammed Shah, as he
struggled to make his way back home.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/karzai-sworn-in-for-second-5-year-term/article1369287/

[MilesColtrane]

6. I wonder if he has to get all of his suits altered...

so they can accommodate Uncle Sam's hand up his ass.

This puppet has no credibility among the populace.

Over 50% of Afghanis living in poverty having to listen to a guy in Armani telling them that he's cleaning up the government.

Yeah, right.

[Homer Wells]

11. Weasel sworn in

Vows to protect henhouses

:eyes:

[Roland99]

12. Oh, btw, it's hard to fight corruption when one came to power because of it.

I'm sure everyone here remembers how Karzai was a consultant for UNOCAL and was working on gas pipeline deals through Afghanistan.


How convenient.

[Vidar]

13. Only if he puts a gun to his head.

[sattahipdeep]

14. Corrupt drug lord

Slice it how you want, supporting a corrupt drug lord makes you a corrupt drug lord. PERIOD!

[emilyg]

15. Yeah - sure.

[David Zephyr]

16. Gag me with a fuckin' valley girl's spoon.

Our young people are dying to enrich this motherfucker?