Salon.com > Hamid Karzai

After “withdrawal” U.S. will keep 9 Afghan bases

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:30:00 +0000

The concept of military withdrawal -- especially from Afghanistan -- has long been a flimsy one. Let alone the presence of contractors that are not counted among official troop numbers, withdrawal from Afghanistan has never meant that the country would be totally without a U.S. military presence. On Thursday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that the U.S. hoped to maintain nine military bases across Afghanistan -- a large deployment that stands at odds with claims of a more robust security handover from U.S. to Afghan forces.

"We can agree to give them the bases – them staying on after 2014 is for the good of Afghanistan," Karzai said in a speech at Kabul University. "The condition is that they bring peace and security and take action quickly … on the basic strengthening of Afghanistan, helping the economy of Afghanistan."

Cut Karzai off — and send cash to 9/11 museum

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:31:00 +0000

It’s been a good week for outrages. Last Sunday, the New York Times revealed that the CIA has been literally handing over sacks of cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai since the start of the war there. No one knows the exact amounts involved, but possibly tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have found the pockets of Karzai’s friends and possible rivals -- including an alleged mass murderer or two.

Then this Sunday, the foundation that oversees the still-unopened September 11 National Memorial and Museum at ground zero voted to charge visitors an admission fee of $20 to $25, because it can’t cover the museum’s projected operating cost of $60 million a year with donations alone.

How the Pentagon corrupted Afghanistan

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Washington has vociferously denounced Afghan corruption as a major obstacle to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. This has been widely reported. Only one crucial element is missing from this routine censure: a credible explanation of why American nation-building failed there. No wonder. To do so, the U.S. would have to denounce itself.

Corruption in Afghanistan today is acute and permeates all sectors of society. In recent years, anecdotal evidence on the subject has been superseded by the studies of researchers, surveys by NGOs, and periodic reports by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). There is also the Corruption Perceptions Index of the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI). Last year, it bracketed Afghanistan with two other countries as the most corrupt on Earth.

None of these documents, however, refers to the single most important fact when it comes to corruption: that it’s Washington-based. It is, in fact, rooted in the massive build-up of U.S. forces there from 2005 onward, the accompanying expansion of American forward operating bases, camps, and combat outposts from 29 in 2005 to nearly 400 five years later, and above all, the tsunami of cash that went with all of this.

Kerry makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:32:00 +0000

KABUL (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has flown into Afghanistan on an unannounced visit to see President Hamid Karzai amid concerns the Afghan president may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with anti-American rhetoric.

Kerry arrived in the Afghan capital on Monday for a 24-hour visit and was to meet Karzai, civic leaders and others to discuss continued U.S. assistance to the country. His visit coincides with the handover of a major detention center to Afghan officials.

It also comes as Karzai has infuriated U.S. officials by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration presses ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO's combat mission by the end of next year.

U.S. commander: Karzai’s comments threaten troops

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:40:00 +0000

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan warned his troops to be ready for increased violence because of a series of anti-American statements by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, NATO said Thursday.

In an email to battlefield commanders, Gen. Joseph Dunford, said the remarks could spur more insider attacks, days after members of Afghan security forces killed two U.S. troops and a U.S. contractor in two separate shootings.

"We're at a rough point in the relationship," Dunford said in the email, according to a senior U.S. official, speaking anonymously to discuss the confidential communication.

After news of Dunford's email broke, Karzai's office released a new statement Thursday explaining the president's earlier remarks.

"My recent comments were meant to help reform, not destroy the relationship," the statement quotes Karzai telling an audience gathered for a televised talk show filmed at the presidential palace Thursday. "We want good relations and friendship with America, but the relationship must be between two independent nations."

After Karzai slams U.S., Hagel cancels conference

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:09:00 +0000

Newly appointed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has canceled his first scheduled press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Officials have cited "security concerns" for the cancellation, but the decision came just hours after Karzai contentiously accused the U.S. of colluding with the Taliban to justify a military presence in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, the Afghan president charged that the U.S. was in daily talks with the Taliban and that insurgent suicide attacks enabled the U.S.-led international military force to justify its presence in Afghanistan.

The Guardian noted that Afghan officials have called foul on the U.S. "security concerns" excuse for canceling the news conference:

Afghan officials said the presidential palace, where the men planned to meet the press, was totally safe.

"It doesn't make any sense," said one Afghan official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to discuss the sensitive issue. "It was supposed to take place at the palace, we don't see any security problems there."

U.S. special forces accused of torture, killing Afghan citizens

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:20:00 +0000

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has ordered U.S. special forces to leave Afghanistan's turbulent Maidan Wardak province following local reports that Afghan civilians had been tortured and "disappeared" under the oversight of U.S. Special Ops.

The New York Times noted that, with the ban, "the government signaled its willingness to take a far harder line against abuses linked to foreign troops than it has in the past. The action also reflected a deep distrust of international forces that is now widespread in Afghanistan."

Maidan Wardak adjoins Kabul and has become a focal point in recent years for efforts to stop Taliban insurgents reaching the capital. "After a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as U.S. special forces stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people," a statement from Karzai's presidential palace read.

The statement continued:

Obama, Karzai agree to speed up military transition

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:17:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday they have agreed to speed up slightly the schedule for moving Afghanistan's security forces into the lead across the country, with U.S. troops shifting fully to a support role. The leaders also said Obama agreed to place battlefield detainees under the control of the Afghan government.

Obama, appearing in the East Room of the White House with Karzai at his side, said accelerating the transition to Afghan security control this spring would set the stage for further withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign forces, although he did not say how quickly a U.S. drawdown would be carried out this year and next. There are now 66,000 U.S. troops there.

"Starting this spring, our troops will have a different mission: training, advising and assisting Afghan forces," Obama said. "It will be a historic moment."

He added later that even in a backup role he could not rule out that U.S. troops could be drawn into combat. But he emphasized that their main role would be support, such as training and advising.

Karzai said he was pleased by the agreement, in part because it means that by spring there will be no foreign troops in Afghan villages.

Afghan president: US violating detainee pact

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:44:00 +0000

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's president has accused U.S. forces of continuing to capture and hold Afghans in violation of an agreement signed earlier this year between the two countries.

Hamid Karzai's statement late Sunday came at a sensitive time - just days after the beginning of negotiations on a bilateral security agreement that will govern the U.S. military presence in the country after the majority of troops draw down in 2014. Karzai's critics say he frequently strikes populist, nationalist stances that give him leverage in talks with the Americans.

In the statement, the Afghan president said some detainees are still being held by U.S. forces even though Afghan judges have ruled that they be released. He also decried the continued arrest of Afghans by U.S. forces.

Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi on Monday told reporters that more than 70 detainees continue to be held by the Americans despite being ordered released by Afghan courts.

The two countries signed the detainee transfer pact in March but the handover of detention facilities has been slowed by the U.S., which has argued both that the Afghans are not ready to take over their management and insisted that the Afghan government agree to hold without trial some detainees that the U.S. deems too dangerous to release.

Losing in Afghanistan

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:48:00 +0000

In the wake of several deaths among its contingent of troops in a previously peaceful province in Afghanistan, New Zealand (like France and South Korea) is now expediting the departure of its 140 soldiers. That’s not exactly headline-making news here in the U.S. If you’re an American, you probably didn’t even know that New Zealand was playing a small part in our Afghan War. In fact, you may hardly have known about the part Americans are playing in a war that, over the last decade-plus, has repeatedly been labeled “the forgotten war.”

Afghanistan: “The tide of war is receding”

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Glenn Greenwald wrote recently about how reporter Michael Hastings’ new book on Afghanistan exposes some of the pathologies of national security journalism as it is commonly practiced today. But the new book, “The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan,” also contains lots of interesting reporting on the recent history of the war, particularly the period between 2009 and 2010 when Gen. Stanley McChrystal was in charge. McChrystal, of course, resigned in June 2010 after the publication of a Rolling Stone article by Hastings that contained sundry damaging material, including quotes from McChrystal aides mocking the White House.

I spoke to Hastings about the American relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the effort to arm Afghan militias around the country, and recent reports of negotiations with the Taliban.