Obama Administration to Continue Push for Chief Executive in Afghanistan

[tekisui]

Source: Guardian

Whatever the result of tomorrow's election in Afghanistan, the Obama administration intends to resume its push for the appointment of a western-style chief executive in an attempt to curb the worst of the country's endemic corruption and expand the influence of the Kabul government in the face of Taliban advances.

The plan to insert a chief executive to work under the president reflects continued lack of faith in the ability of the expected winner Hamid Karzai to implement reforms regarded as essential to winning the war, such as a crackdown on the opium trade. There is also little enthusiasm in Washington for Karzai's main rival, Dr Abdullah Abdullah.

The third main presidential candidate, Ashraf Ghani, is favourite for the chief executive slot, a US official familiar with discussions in Washington said today. Ghani has spent much of his life outside of Afghanistan, including a spell at the World Bank but polls suggest he has little chance of winning.

He has been in discussion with US officials, including the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, and the US ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, although he has denied that he has turned down the job offer. "I've been approached repeatedly; the offer is on the table. I have not accepted it," he told reporters last weekend.

Karzai's aides have apparently offered Ghani the job, but relations between the US and Karzai have reached such a low point that there is little faith in Washington that he will deliver on his promise to name Ghani or even to appoint a chief executive at all. US officials fear that Karzai may have offered the job to several rivals, as well as Ghani.

The Guardian first revealed in March that the Obama administration was pressing Karzai to appoint a chief executive. The role of the chief executive would be to try to make the Kabul government efficient, increase its visibility in various remote provinces and cut the alleged links between the government and the drugs trade.

more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/19/obama-chief-executive-afghanistan
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If the old puppet claims the sham election, we will put the new puppet in charge.

[madrchsod]

1. obama`s Vietnam......