Karzai's capers

How fantastical of anyone to imagine that the election was an indication that Afghanistan was "a partner in the War On Terror." The absurdity of this amazingly ingenuous statement beggars belief, but Karzai was the Chosen Man and could do no wrong. Bush went on to say that "The large turnout by Afghan women....confirms that there is a vital role for women in the politics of a nation proud of its Islamic heritage," which was rubbish also, because women are, and will always be at the bottom rung of the ladder in Afghanistan's male-dominated society. Human Rights Watch records that a year ago the Kabul parliament "voted to suspend Malalai Joya, a female MP....[because she] was accused of insulting the parliament [allegedly calling it a stable] and suspended until the end of her term in 2009....Malalai [said] her remarks were edited out of context....Malalai has since received numerous death threats by phone and "night letters" (posted threats) and now lives in hiding. She receives no security protection from parliament or the government." Of course the government of Mr Karzai won't do anything about protecting her because almost all its members are died-in-the-wool, feudally-minded, male chauvinists of the deepest dye.

Over to Mr Karzai for action. That is if he has a moment to spare from blaming Pakistan for the chaos in his country, as indicated in last week's pronouncement by his cabinet to the effect that "The people of Afghanistan, the world, know very well that Pakistan's intelligence agency and military have turned that country into the biggest exporter of terrorism and extremism to the world, particularly Afghanistan."

The dolts in Kabul refuse to admit that Pakistan's army and Frontier Corps have suffered more than a thousand soldiers killed in operations against the very people who Karzai claims are being supported by Pakistan's "military." The Taliban (or whatever name one cares to give to the vicious, ignorant murderers who claim that their savagery is in the name of Islam) are conducting a ferocious campaign of attacks within Pakistan. They want to kill as many Pakistani soldiers as they can. So for Karzai to aver that Pakistan is helping militants is insulting and absurd. Of all the fatuously muddle-headed assertions made about Pakistan, this one must be the most bizarre. But it helps deflect world attention from the fact that Mr Karzai's government is terminally ineffective and composed of many figures who are nothing more nor less than common criminals.

Even the egregious General Dan McNeill, the US commander in Afghanistan, said he thinks "there is an issue of corruption in this government, accepted by everybody, to include President Karzai," and a survey found that 60 per cent of Afghans consider Karzai's government to be "more corrupt than that of the Taliban, the mujahideen or the Communist regimes." Now wouldn't it be a good thing if Mr Karzai did something about this? His soldiers are ill-trained and largely ineffective, and foreign troops are detested because they kill so many Afghan civilians (US bombing killed about sixty last week, including policemen), and he can't do much about that. But he could do something about corruption, by bringing charges against those who are criminals.