Pressuring the president

Despite the general consensus that without a substantial surge the situation in Afghanistan cannot be turned around, there is far less agreement on how to handle President Karzai and his new government. Initially, after Karzai was ultimately declared the winner of a drawn-out election process that was marred by fraud, most experts agreed that the international community must increase the pressure and set concrete goals for the new president such as fighting corruption and good governance.

On his first official visit with Karzai in Kabul last month, Germany's new Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg delivered a strong message to the Afghan cabinet: "Just paying lip service isn't good enough: the Afghan government has to meet these targets." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton relayed the same message at Karzai's inauguration last month and last week told the US Senate's Armed Services Committee: "We have real concerns about the influence of corrupt officials in the Afghan government, and we will continue to pursue them."

Only option

While most experts agree that Karzai must step up efforts to fight corruption and improve government services, some argue that part of the blame for the current situation falls on the international community itself and that Karzai has been and still is the only viable option for the country:

"President Karzai was, I think, the best person in 2001 to lead the interim administration," Francesc Vendrell, the EU's former Special Representative for Afghanistan, told Deutsche Welle. "I don't think that either the Americans or the Europeans supported him enough in the first few years. We allowed the commanders and the war lords to remain in power. They were the ones who brought about corruption and bad government and President Karzai was virtually unable to do anything about it."

Instead of criticising und undermining Karzai, adds Vendrell, the EU and the US should support him and enable him to carry out the goals he and the international community agreed upon.

That sentiment is shared by Frances Townsend, a former Homeland Security Adviser to President George W. Bush. She has called for an end to the Karzai-bashing, which she feels is counterproductive to success in Afghanistan. "The time for criticism is over and we now have to move forward in a positive way and judge him based on his performance," Townsend told Deutsche Welle. "If we want him to be able to perform, he is now the president of Afghanistan, he is going forward, we must empower him and then support him in these efforts to root out corruption and to deliver services to the Afghan people."

Good start

But others believe that without continous international pressure the Karzai government will simply not change its behavior. They view his inauguration speech in which he vowed to be a president for all Afghans and fight corruption as a good indication that he may be getting the message. "He started off rhetorically correctly at his inauguration," Daniel Hamilton, Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University, told Deutsche Welle. "He is investigating his own government, the one he presided over until now, so at least he's indicating that there are some ways to move ahead. The proof will be in the real practical steps they take and we just simply need more time to understand that."

Others argue that the international community shouldn't rely so much on the Afghan president anyway:"My feeling is that we put too much effort on Karzai himself," Alvaro de Vasconcelos, Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, told Deutsche Welle. Instead of focusing mainly on the president, the international community and especially the Europeans should help the Afghans to set up functioning political parties.

"I am from Portugal and I remember how important the German foundations like the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation and Konrad-Adenauer Foundation were in the consolidation of Portugal's political forces that were essential for the positive outcome of the Portuguese crisis of 1974/75." Europe could play a similar role in Afghanistan, added de Vasconcelos.

And there have been signs for a while now that the US at least is in fact carrying out such a two-pronged approach to turning around the situation in Afghanistan: Keeping up the pressure on the Karzai government without causing further erosion of his public standing and at the same time trying to include Afghanistan's regional players to play a positive role. President Obama said last month that the US was looking for legitimate provincial actors to work with in addition to the government in Kabul.

Author: Michael Knigge
Editor: Rob Mudge