Hamid Karzai

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Karzai Concedes, Backs US Plan for Local Forces

Villagers will be trained to fight the Taliban

(Newser) - With US deaths rising by the day, Hamid Karzai gave up his long-held objections today to a central part of Gen. David Petraeus' strategy. The Afghan president agreed to allow the training of local defense forces—"community watch on steroids," says one US official—so villagers can defend...

Petraeus, Karzai Clash on Strategy
Petraeus,
Karzai Clash
on Strategy

Petraeus, Karzai Clash on Strategy

Elsewhere, six American troops are killed

(Newser) - Bleak news all around today from Afghanistan: Gen. David Petraeus has barely settled in, but he's already running into resistance from President Hamid Karzai on strategy, reports the Washington Post . Meanwhile, six American service members were killed, bringing the total to 23 this month, reports AP . That follows last month's...

Karzai Blocking Corruption Probes: Officials

Prosecutors ordered to ignore evidence and suspects

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai’s top lieutenants have repeatedly thrown monkey wrenches into corruption allegations threatening Afghanistan’s politically-connected elite, US officials tell the Washington Post . Prosecutors have been ordered to disregard evidence, remove names from case files, and prevent senior officials from being arrested, the Americans allege. “Above a certain...

Officials May Have Smuggled US Aid Out of Afghanistan

More than $3 billion flown out of Kabul Airport

(Newser) - US investigators suspect that high-ranking Afghan officials are smuggling US aid money out of the country and putting it in financial safe havens abroad. More than $3 billion in cash has been flown out of Kabul International Airport in the past three years, the Wall Street Journal reports, and though...

Lawmakers, Afghan Leaders Welcome Petraeus

McChrystal replacement likely to have 'fastest confirmation in history'

(Newser) - President Obama's choice of David Petraeus to replace Stanley McChrystal has met near-universal praise in Washington and Kabul. Democrats and Republicans alike say the general is guaranteed a swift Senate confirmation to take charge of the Afghanistan war, Politico reports. The general's confirmation "may be the fastest in the...

Karzai Doesn't Want McChrystal Fired
Karzai Doesn't Want McChrystal Fired

Karzai Doesn't Want McChrystal Fired

Afghan president says general 'is a person of great integrity'

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai believes Gen. Stanley McChrystal is the "best commander" of the war and hopes President Obama doesn't decide to replace him, a rep for the Afghan president said today. The leader of American forces in Aghanistan, under fire for his and his staff's indiscreet comments to a Rolling ...

Karzai Doesn't Think US Can Win

Afghan leader doubts West will defeat the Taliban

(Newser) - This doesn't bode well for the mission in Afghanistan: Hamid Karzai doubts that the US and NATO can defeat the Taliban, reports Dexter Filkins of the New York Times . While the West is pressing ahead with its military push against insurgents, Karzai is reportedly reaching out to the Taliban in...

US Slams Drone Jockeys for Killing Afghan Civilians

Operators ordered to undergo increased training

(Newser) - The US military has released a harsh self-critique, blaming the “inaccurate and unprofessional” actions of Predator drone operators for the deaths of 23 Afghan civilians in a February strike. Six servicemembers have been disciplined, reports the New York TImes, in a report that underscores the importance being placed on...

McChrystal: No One's Winning in Afghanistan

Taliban have lost momentum, says top US commanders

(Newser) - The good news is, the Taliban aren't winning in Afghanistan. The bad news is, nobody else is winning either, according to the top US commander in Afghanistan. The US has made some progress, however, and the insurgency has lost the momentum many believed it had gained a year ago, Gen....

Obama Open to Taliban Peace Talks

Karzai plan wins tentative support

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai has won some very tentative support from President Obama for his plan to try to make peace with Taliban leaders. At a joint press conference yesterday, Obama said when Karzai holds talks this summer, reintegration into Afghan society chould be on the table, the Los Angeles Times reports....

Obama &amp; Co. Romance Hated Karzai With Lies
Obama & Co. Romance
Hated Karzai With Lies
Maureen Dowd

Obama & Co. Romance Hated Karzai With Lies

Time to snuggle up to the lesser of two evils

(Newser) - Washingtonians lie all the time, but “with the arrival of Hamid Karzai, the mendacity blossomed into absurdity,” writes Maureen Dowd of the New York Times . Obama can't stand Karzai—and really, neither can anyone else. But Dowd says they'll pretend to like him, because “like a lover...

White House Rolls Out Red Carpet for Karzai

Afghan leader comes to DC for (likely strained) talks

(Newser) - When Hamid Karzai arrives in Washington today, he'll be met with smiles (through gritted teeth, perhaps) from Barack Obama. The administration has had a rocky relationship with Karzai—the trip was almost canceled after he publicly contemplated joining the Taliban—but Obama has ordered his aides to roll out the...

Karzai's Peace Plan: Exile Taliban Leaders

Plan calls for "deradicalization" classes, jobs

(Newser) - Taliban leaders would be allowed to go peacefully into exile, while their warriors would be given jobs and “deradicalization” classes under a new peace plan that will be proposed later this month by Hamid Karzai's government in Afghanistan. The write-up seen by the Guardian refers to Taliban fighters as...

Afghan Killing Sparks 'Death to America' Protest

NATO kills lawmaker's brother-in-law

(Newser) - NATO forces killed the relative of a prominent Afghan lawmaker in a botched raid, triggering protests by villagers who chanted: "Death to America." Afghan lawmaker Safya Sidiqi, who lost her brother-in-law in the attack Wednesday, called the incident "barbaric and unjustifiable." NATO claims troops shot the...

Karzai, White House Mend Fences; Visit On

Afghan president will travel to Washington next month as scheduled

(Newser) - The Obama administration and Hamid Karzai have buried the hatchet, and the Afghan president will visit Washington next month as scheduled, reports the Washington Post . The White House had threatened to call off the visit because of Karzai's recent shenanigans—including a vow to join the Taliban if Afghanistan's Western...

Afghans Riot After US Troops Kill Bus Passengers

Civilian death spark outrage before Kandahar push

(Newser) - Anti-American riots swept Kandahar yesterday after American troops opened fire on a passenger bus, killing at least 4 civilians and wounding 18. Accounts of the incident—which deals a massive blow to NATO's hopes of winning over the local population before its upcoming offensive in the area—vary widely. NATO...

Karzai's the Best We've Got. Deal With It
Karzai's the Best We've
Got. Deal With It
Fareed Zakaria

Karzai's the Best We've Got. Deal With It

We need him to win the Afghanistan war, so grow up and stop undercutting him

(Newser) - Sure, Hamid Karzai is a "vain, mercurial, hypersensitive man" presiding over "a system that is massively corrupt." But the US still should—and must—learn to work with him, Fareed Zakaria writes in the Washington Post . There is no alternative to Karzai, Zakaria argues; if the US...

Ex-Envoy Hints at Karzai Drug Problem

Has 'fondness' for 'Afghanistan's most profitable exports'

(Newser) - This might explain some things: A former UN envoy to Afghanistan suggested to MSNBC that Hamid Karzai has a drug problem. "He can be very emotional, act impulsively," said Peter Galbraith. "In fact, some of the palace insiders say that he has a certain fondness for some...

White House Threatens to Cancel Karzai Visit

'Troubling' comments put meeting in jeopardy

(Newser) - The White House may cancel a visit by Hamid Karzai if the Afghan president continues to make volatile statements. Karzai is supposed to come in May, but press secretary Robert Gibbs said his erratic behavior has the administration thinking twice, reports CNN . Karzai's recent bombshells include blaming foreigners for electoral...

Crazy Karzai Regime Is 'Too Big to Fail'

Erratic Afghan leader understands how deep US is in, acts accordingly

(Newser) - The US is engaged in “asymmetrical” warfare with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Fred Kaplan writes, but it also suffers an asymmetrical relationship with an increasingly erratic head of state—Hamid Karzai. His regime “depends entirely on the United States,” sure, but because Western powers “have—and...

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