rssZalmay Khalilzad to Rule Afghanistan Behind the Scenes?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 10:59 am
- 6 Comments
In one of the most rococo arrangements between patron and client-state imaginable, Afghan President Hamid Karzai might hire Zalmay Khalilzad — who was an extremely powerful U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 — to be something like a chief executive officer. Khalilzad, who was born in Mazar-e-Sharif, had been rumored to consider a run for the presidency, which was odd enough, but this is out-and-out crazy.
Helene Cooper reports for The New York Times:
The position would allow Mr. Khalilzad to serve as “a prime minister, except not prime minister because he wouldn’t be responsible to a parliamentary system,” a senior Obama administration official said. Taking the unelected position would also allow Mr. Khalilzad to keep his American citizenship.
Administration officials tell Cooper that they’re not necessarily behind the idea, which is encouraging if true, because having a former American official run the Karzai government behind the scenes is absolutely insane. A scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies remarks, “This has the makings of a really bad movie.” And an exceptionally bad one! Karzai will be effectively saying his most important priority is to repair his breach with the United States without regard for appearing like an American stooge. Why not just give the Taliban a radio station and tell them to have fun broadcasting the prospective Khalilzad appointment?
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6 Comments
Comment posted May 19, 2009 @ 12:19 pm
Khalilzad is hated in Afghanistan. take his citizen ship away and ask him to walk alone on the streets of Kabul – which he has not done since he was a high school student. he is the problem, not the solution.
he helped put Afghanistan is the sorry state it is in now, carrying out the Bush's policy on non country building. before that he was a supporter of the Taliban, before that bag man for Gulibideen Hektmayer.
Pingback posted May 19, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
[...] Spencer Ackerman comments that: “A scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies remarks, “This has the makings of a really bad movie.” And an exceptionally bad one! Karzai will be effectively saying his most important priority is to repair his breach with the United States without regard for appearing like an American stooge. Why not just give the Taliban a radio station and tell them to have fun broadcasting the prospective Khalilzad appointment?” [...]
Comment posted May 19, 2009 @ 7:19 pm
Khalilzad is hated in Afghanistan. take his citizen ship away and ask him to walk alone on the streets of Kabul – which he has not done since he was a high school student. he is the problem, not the solution.
he helped put Afghanistan is the sorry state it is in now, carrying out the Bush's policy on non country building. before that he was a supporter of the Taliban, before that bag man for Gulibideen Hektmayer.
Pingback posted May 20, 2009 @ 5:21 am
[...] have problems with Khalilzad, like the fact that he wanted to build bridges with the Taliban in ’97. Initially, [...]
Pingback posted May 21, 2009 @ 3:14 am
[...] via The Washington Independent » Zalmay Khalilzad to Rule Afghanistan Behind the Scenes?. [...]
Pingback posted August 12, 2009 @ 1:24 am
[...] it used to be that the Obama administration wanted Ambassador Zal Khalilzad to be something like a CEO for Afghanistan, because, you know, who doesn’t trust the competence and wisdom of a CEO? Now the [...]
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