Dmitry Litvinovich: The West was wrong about Hamid Karzai. Afghanistan needs the new leader

The civil war in Afghanistan is gathering pace. The inability of the interim government of the country to establish law and order proves its failure to cope with the situation. Hamid Karzai is a weak politician, we can only feel sorry for him, since the burden of Afghanistan is too heavy for him to carry on. The West really wanted him to become someone like Nelson Mandela, but Karzai is far from being a person like Mandela, and this is getting more and more obvious with every day.

The fact that Karzai had the top level talks in the USA and in Great Britain does not imply any of his political accomplishments. Even the promises of the financial and political support from the States and Britain did not help the head of the Afghan government to achieve the objective, for which he actually came to the West.

Hamid Karzai’s country is very far from being stable and the goal of his visit to London is the desperate request to preserve the British troops in Afghanistan as the guarantee against another civil war in the country. Karzai was hoping that the English troops would stay in Afghanistan at least for the period they stayed in Sierra Leone. He was hoping that the English soldiers would set up the national security forces that would then gain the respect and authority in the country. However, as Tony Blair said, the British troops would leave Afghanistan in three months.

Germany, which is supposed to substitute the British and become the head of the peacemaking contingent, is currently facing the financial difficulties, and it is not known yet, if the Germans are going to Afghanistan or not.

So, Hamid Karzai’s situation is lamentable. The Afghan army is being formed now, and it seems that there is no one to establish law and order in the country during this period. The only thing that Hamid Karzai may count on is that the population of Afghanistan is tired of the war and is craving for peace. So the people could support Karzai’s initiatives, aimed at maintaining peace in the country.

Anyway, the government of Afghanistan is absolutely incapable to execute its duties. The statement that was released from the Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah proves that. The minister said that the outbreak of the army actions in the city of Gardez in the south of the country was “an isolated incident.” Abdullah said the situation in that region was under control, but he added that it would hardly be possible to settle the conflict down quickly. The armed conflict in Gardez, which is the capital of the province of Paktia, came up due to the contradiction between the local commanders and the new governor of the province, appointed by the interim administration of the country. Afghan Islamic Press agency reported, they managed to dislodge the detachments of the new governor’s followers from the city, killing 50 people during the battle.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov

BBC photo