Perhaps one of the most difficult jobs anywhere is that of President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Imagine being the Chief Executive of a Sovereign Nation, where there exists great cultural independence at the provincial level, and significant international pressure to effect the rule of law where you have little influence. On top of all of this, high level diplomats from your "allies" reiterate their demands, disrespectfully, and disjointed from the demands of their own colleagues.
Al-Maliki, Karzai, and the President of Pakistan share similar challenges in placating their own populace, demonstrating their own leadership and sovereignity, while also their worth to powerful, yet demanding allies. They have common enemies in Al-Qaeda and local insurgents.
Respect is a huge factor in that part of the world, particularly in front of subordinates, yours or theirs. I'll come back to this.
I've previously discussed my evolving attitude towards our other ally,
the Pakis, but Karzai and elements of his government are in similar positions. At the lower levels, the following frustrations from a respected colleague are completely understandable:
Anyone that reads this blog knows that I am no fan of Hamid Karzai and it would not bother me a bit if he was removed from power. Well he is at it again by running his mouth. The other day our forces killed 32 enemy, and somewhere in the mix it is said that 17 died that were “innocent” civilians.
Karzai finds himself in a difficult situation with such claims. He is likely fully cognizant that the claims of "innocent" loss of life are no more than enemy propaganada, yet also realizes that if he doesn't "appropriately " respond, it'll be used against him by political "allies," political enemies, and the enemy itself.
While any Veteran of the Afghanistan front is likely to tell you that Afghanis are stubborn and respect lost is hard to recover, as well as mostly uneducated, Karzai is highly educated but still an Afghani. Karzai must therefore demonstrate his need to investigate any claim of civilian casaulties, regardless of the unliklihood of occurence of it. It is the real cultural politics with which he must establish the power of the National Government and its sovereignity.
More disconcerting are reports from insiders that have related the initial discussions between the President-Elect of the United States and the duly elected and serving President-in-fact of Afghanistan. It has been related that the then Senator/Candidate demonstrated his superiority and disdain for how the Afghan President is doing things. It is said he walked into the house of Karzai and began making ignorant and arrogant demands in front of underlings. In short, the incoming POTUS, before he was elected walked into the house of the Chief Executive of a Sovereign ally and disrespected him in front of both of their subordinates.
It's the equivalent of walking into Senator Clinton's house, lighting up a cigar, and using her favorite china for an ashtray. The difference is that President Karzai demonstrated the respect that his role as host demanded in his culture. The result is that there will likely be a long-held, deep resentment for the incoming POTUS. Anybody that has drank chai with the local elders will understand the difficulties that are in store.
The best thing that could happen at this point is that the name of the POTUS is never again invoked with any request, that his next trip he demonstrate respect and a lack of arrogance. IF the Embassy in Baghdad needs anything from Karzai, they should invoke only the name of the Government itself and those high representatives of it that have demonstrated positive relationships. And the next thing Obama asks of our ally should certainly be something of such non-critical measure, that the non-conformance of "en shallah" will afford non-compliance with. Whatever it is, will likely not happen.
For those of us that operate at lower levels, remember, Karzai is not only an Afghani, and the Chief Executive of a nation difficult to govern (he puts up with the same Afghan culture we have a hard time understanding, including "en shallah"), but he is also a politician that must say some things to appease the electorate.
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