Max Boot: How to Handle the Infuriating Hamid Karzai
Mr. Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, is writing a history of guerrilla warfare and terrorism.
Outgoing U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry has blasted Hamid Karzai—although not by name—for the Afghan president's latest, intemperate outburst against the U.S. and our coalition partners. This time, Mr. Karzai complained not just about the civilian casualties inadvertently caused by NATO air strikes, as he usually does, but also about the supposed environmental damage caused by dropping bombs that "have chemical materials in them." As if Afghanistan, which has been ravaged by three decades of war, were a pristine paradise before NATO arrived.
It is hard to disagree with Mr. Eikenberry when he says: "When Americans, who are serving in your country at great cost—in terms of life and treasure—hear themselves compared with occupiers, told that they are only here to advance their own interest, and likened to the brutal enemies of the Afghan people, they are filled with confusion and grow weary of our effort here."
Mr. Karzai does in fact undermine public support for the war effort in America by denouncing the very foreigners who are keeping him alive and in office. But does it serve any purpose to fire back? Perhaps it might, if it shocks Mr. Karzai into being more careful about what he says in the future...