Good question and answer in Council on Foreign Relations addressing the subject of Karzai’s leadership in Afghanistan
Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, says despite recent divisions, it’s still possible for President Hamid Karzai and rival Abdullah Abdullah to reach agreement on elements of a national unity government
It was written before the election that he had surrounded himself with a number of unsavory characters including his vice president. Is that still the case?
There will have to be changes. This is the last chance for President Karzai. This is his final term. There will be a need to appeal to his sense of his place in Afghanistan’s history, a final opportunity to take advantage of the presence and support of the international community for Afghanistan to bring about changes in staffing around him and in its government writ large, and in terms of programs, so that he can be remembered as a leader who helped Afghanistan succeed, not one who lost the best opportunity Afghanistan has had in a long time.
