(Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a
Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
will today convene a meeting of more than 2,000 of the country's leaders and elders as he attempts to garner support for an extended security agreement with the U.S.
The traditional loya jirga gathering brings together provincial and ethnic representatives who will also consider peace talks with the Taliban following the September liquidation of envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani
... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan...
. Insurgents threatened to attack the council and Karzai's chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
, vowed to boycott it.
With the U.S. planning to withdraw most of its 98,000 combat soldiers by 2014, Karzai wants a mandate to broker a longer-term security arrangement that includes commitments to maintain a troop presence and fund and train military and police forces. Afghanistan's army isn't ready to face the Taliban alone, leaving Karzai with little choice, said S. Chandrasekharan, director of the South Asia Analysis Group.
"Afghan forces have shown they'll be unable to manage in the near future," New Delhi-based Chandrasekharan said yesterday. Still, a continued U.S. presence means "the chances are slim for a negotiated agreement with the Taliban, who have demanded that all foreign soldiers leave. There's a basic contradiction."
The security forces, which have taken control of some districts and cities, continue to have high attrition rates and lack sufficient strength in leadership, logistics, intelligence and surveillance, according to a U.S. Defense Department assessment released Oct. 28.