Posted on 10/23/2009 2:41:01 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
Politicians love photo-ops. So when Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) appeared alongside Hamid Karzai as the beleaguered Afghan president announced that he would agree to a runoff election, it was hardly surprising. Kerry was doing what politicians do.
Moreover, the senator was in Kabul to supplement the Obama administration's efforts to lean on Karzai to hold another presidential vote, given widespread evidence that the one held in August was rigged. When Karzai claimed victory then, his main opponent, former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, cried foul, a chorus of international criticism arose and an Afghan government infamous for its ineptitude and sleaziness looked even more illegitimate.
It's this tricky context that makes Kerry's photo-op problematic.
The Obama administration knows that no amount of firepower in the war will substitute for an Afghan government that is minimally effective, has the confidence of its people and is seen as independent. The Taliban knows this as well, which is why, in addition to mounting an insurgency and launching suicide bombings, it has been busy painting the Americans as occupiers and Karzai as their puppet. The spectacle of the 6-foot-tall U.S. senator standing next to the Afghan president, who everyone knows was arm-twisted into making a concession he had resisted, simply helps the Taliban's PR campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
While I may not agree with every premise of the writer, I think he paints a clear picture of the status quo in the ‘stan.
It appears the oafish o-bong-a administration has created a sticky catch-22. The runoff election cannot be conducted safely without more U.S. troops and dummy won’t commit until after the election. Foreign affairs are WAY over his head.
Uhhh, not it's not. Not at all. John effin Kerry, while still commissioned as a Naval officer, went to Paris and tried to negotiate with the North Vietnamese all on his lonesome. It was a blatant act of treason.
I'm not trying to cover for 0bama but it is easy to imagine Kerry doing something stupid and treasonous on his own. He did it again in Nicaragua as a congressman.
They can get in line and it's a long one.
Where was Kerry and “The Won” when Iran held their fake election?
Oh, That would have taken balls.
Is that why 0ba-Mao sent Carville over there to support Abdullah?
“It’s hard to imagine that Kerry was freelancing “
It’s hard to believe Carville was back in july also
James Carville Joins The Afghan Campaign Trail
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=107006724
July 25, 2009
What do Louisiana and Afghanistan have in common? These days, it’s James Carville.
The Democratic strategist who got Bill Clinton elected to the White House has signed on with another dark horse presidential candidate — this one in Afghanistan.
At a time when many Afghans prefer to lessen their leaders’ ties to the U.S. government, working with a famous American campaign strategist may seem a risky move. And it’s a race that is tougher than most, even for Carville, who has advised many international candidates.
But Afghan challenger Ashraf Ghani jokes that James Carville’s roots give him keen insight. “This is a Louisiana boy who understands. If you understand New Orleans, you understand Afghanistan,” Ghani laughs.
The crack about Louisiana’s reputation for corruption and backroom deals makes Carville laugh, too. “Yeah, I felt a little bit at home, to be honest with you,” he quips.
Jokes aside, Carville says he sees real hope for Afghanistan’s future. It’s a future he wants Ghani — a former finance minister and World Bank analyst — to shape.
“It’s a fascinating country. It has a very distinct pull on people,” Carville says.
Many things people think about Afghanistan in the United States are “just wrong,” he says, adding: “Just because it has a failed president doesn’t mean that it has to be a failed country.”
The president he is referring to is incumbent Hamid Karzai. Karzai’s popularity is plummeting because of the growing Taliban insurgency and widespread allegations of corruption in his government. Yet a poll done in May had Karzai with more than a 20-point lead over his challengers.
Ghani, on the other hand, is in third place. He trails Abdullah Abdullah, an ophthalmologist and former commander in the Northern Alliance, which fought against the Taliban when it ruled the country.
Carville’s goal is to try and force the presidential election into a second round. That will happen if no candidate gets a majority of the votes cast on Aug. 20.
“Do we have our set of challenges? Of course,” Carville says. “But hey, I always believe in staying optimistic. Optimistic and on the offensive, that’s my motto.”
Ghani is equally driven. He and Carville met in Washington this spring through mutual friends. Carville won’t say whether he’s being paid to advise Ghani, but the candidate claims Carville is volunteering his time. It’s clear, however, that the challenge is part of the deal’s attraction.
“Normally you have a range of tools from polling and focus group data to targeting and that kind of stuff, and none of that is really available in Afghanistan,” Carville says. “So it was kind of refreshing to go back and do campaigns the old-fashioned way.”
Ghani says some of his favorite advice from Carville is to keep his message short and on point. “He’s telling me not to be an academic, which is what I need to hear.”
Carville hopes to hit the campaign trail with Ghani in the coming weeks. He scoffs when asked if he worries that he’ll end up in places where Western troops and the Taliban are fighting. He says risk is part of the job.
“I mean, I doubt I’ll go walking around Helmand province during a Marine Corps offensive or something, but it’s what I do,” he says. That offensive will likely continue until the election next month.
Domestic affairs are WAY over his head.
The Irish Setters of America each have higher function as bio-organisms than Kerry does.
You know Kerry just has to keep appearing beside Karzai to chase all the votes over to Abdullah, the liberal socialist academic that Obama wants to win. Karzai is a conservative who ideologically is an old soldier. Obama is waiting for Karzai to be de-elected before he decides to save Afghanistan. Obama won't save Afghanistan with the wrong ideologue elected, as our soldiers die by the dozens.( This is making Obama a hated man in America, before we were just incredulous.) Kerry is over there to put in the Chicago fascist thug fix against Karzai.
If we are fortunate someone will touch a big one off right next to him. Thats the best Chicago thug fix. Karzai could blame the Taliban.Kerry is in way OVER his head.
My predictuion is that Karzai will come out on top, and the UN commission will again yell " FOUL" because their man did not win.And Obama will abandon Afghanistan , or the next thing to it, leaving it to the Russians.
Looks like Putin will win this round and Obama doesn't have a clue that he is being screwed, blued and tatooed by Putin. Obama is in way over his head too. He still thinks that Afghanistan is Chicago.
IN Afghanistan they will murder your whole family if you cross them, right down to the infants. Obama is not up to that game, and neither is Kerry.Putin is pulling the strings in Afghanistan.
Kerry (D-Mass.) appeared alongside Hamid Karzai... the senator was in Kabul to supplement the Obama administration's efforts to lean on Karzai to hold another presidential vote, given widespread evidence that the one held in August was rigged... It's this tricky context that makes Kerry's photo-op problematic... The spectacle of the 6-foot-tall U.S. senator standing next to the Afghan president, who everyone knows was arm-twisted into making a concession he had resisted, simply helps the Taliban's PR campaign.Gross incompetence? Among the Demwits? Oh, pshaw. ;')
Couldn't pick a bigger wuss to do that. Kerry is the ultimate tool.
Obama is in way over his head too. He still thinks that Afghanistan is Chicago.
I think he looks at DC like Chicago and he's in over his head there. I agree that he looks at the rest of the world the same way and that's just insane.
Oh, I should add; Kerry is in Massachusetts but he still thinks he is in Cambodia.
It will be the same here, only this time the prurient Chicago thugs are not dealing with neo-colonial tribal politicians. They are dealing with the Russian secret service and the Karzai network. The result of all this foolishness will be that both Iran and Afghanistan will be firmly ensconced within the Russian sphere of influence and power.The Russians will be one step closer to controlling the West's oil supply, while simultaneously pumping drugs into Europe from Afghanistan via the Russian mafia.
Russians 3, Obama "Zero."
Its absolutely insane, given the butchers bill our soldiers must pay while our shill president galoomphs about like a pussy on a hot tin roof.
The Russians are laughing all the way to their new hegemony, and their banks.
Russians 3 ( missile defence in Poland, Czech repub/Iran nuclear overture fails/ Obama looses Afghanistan to the Russians)
Obama: Zero ( That's bumpkiss folks, along with about 75 dead American soldiers)
It will becomme 4 to Zero when the Russians manage to establish a new reserve currency, not the USD).
Obama is in WAY over his head. Which means we will soon have to go to war.
Putin is playing Obama six ways to sideways.
Met his goal, didn't he?
Carville won’t say whether he’s being paid to advise Ghani, but the candidate claims Carville is volunteering his time.
Bwahahaha...
Carville hopes to hit the campaign trail with Ghani in the coming weeks. He scoffs when asked if he worries that he’ll end up in places where Western troops and the Taliban are fighting.
We have hopes, too, ol' Snakehead. How can Mary Matalin be married to this creep.
Since O-balloonboy, the pretend president, won’t send troops over pre-election, let’s be sure sKerry, Jimmuh and ol’ Snakehead... oh, let’s throw in Joe Biden too... go over as election inspectors to watch the doings up close and personal. Yeah, do your duty, guys. Saves us some lives of our finest also... win-win.
Why does that statement make me think of phrases like "temporary compact," "joint mission" and "battlefield truce?"
“Carville won’t say whether he’s being paid to advise Ghani, but the candidate claims Carville is volunteering his time.”
Oh he’s getting paid but the question is by who.
You imagine things...
;^)
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