Sardar Mohammed, the assassin of Ahmed Wali Karzai, is a story of intrique, of espionage, of double and triple crosses, but in a different time or if his target had been a different man, the accusations would implicate the CIA in the deed. It demonstrates the complexity of Afghanistan, and of international politics.
For years, the Obama Administration has run a smear campaign against Ahmed Wali Karzai, accusing him through the MSM of being a corrupt War Lord and Drug Runner. Why not? The Administration has been campaigning against Hamid Karzai since Obama took office. Wali was simply a good excuse to be against his brother. It turns out, the President's brother was not only an influential member of Afghan society, but used his personal finances to pay the Police when the government defaulted.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. Western Governments haven't had reason to deny involvement, though they did question Taliban involvement.
No matter how you slice this, it doesn't bode well for the Administration claim that it's time to pull out of Afghanistan. It is but another example of the Administration's inability to comprehend Afghan Culture and Society. From the Karzai point of view, one must question how someone trained by the US would turn on the man he was supposed to protect, particularly after such a protracted campaign against him. From the American perspective, one must question how 3 months of questionable activity went unnoticed. From the international perspective, one must question how deep the tenticles of the Taliban really run.
And any way you slice it, the War in Afghanistan is NOT over, the Taliban is NOT defeated, though the tide had shifted against them, and they've evolved their tactics. Perhaps, it is time to listen to the Generals, instead of firing them (McKiernan, McChrystal) or promoting them into retirement (Petraeus) when they won't blindly endorse withdrawal, until you find one that will. Perhaps it is time for an Ambassador to Afghanistan that understands the need to have a relationship with their elected leader, instead of campaigning against (Eikenberry) the General & the President of an allied Nation.
Polls show that the US and Obama are viewed more dimly than Bush was in 2008. It is because Muslims have seen this Administration abandons or attacks friends (Mubarrak, Karzai, Musharraf) and ignores the atrocities of enemies (Syria, Iran, Al-Qaeda in Yemen, Al-Qaeda in Africa, Al-Qaeda in Iraq) out of political expedience.
I don't believe that the CIA had anything to do with the Wali Karzai assassination, just because they trained his assassin, anymore than I believe Chavez was installed in Venezuela just because he trained at the School of Americas, or that Clinton sanctioned the attempt on Mubarrak, just because a part-time CIA informant had talked to Al-Qaeda, but if I were Karzai, I would have doubts, just as Mubarrak did.
Stumble It!
