The B.O. regime's supposed deliberation on withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan earlier than expected, as reported by the New York Times...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
, has set off alarm bells for 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...
. What is being described as a "zero option" may result in no forces being left in the war-torn country post-2014. The report stirred a heated debate in Afghanistan as opposition parties, the media and several analysts showed serious concerns over a move they believed could cause the country to slip into a state of civil war.
The report appeared just days after Karzai abruptly suspended talks over the possible security pact in what many believe was a response to the Taliban office opening in Qatar and the US announcing it would hold direct talks with the former. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
the US dropped the idea of Taliban talks and, to pacify an angry Karzai, even agreed to what Afghan officials said about the office. Consequently, the opposition is blaming Karzai of annoying the US. The opposition also suspects Karzai is dragging his feet in signing the security pact for the post-2014 US presence in an attempt to secure personal concessions.
In order to allay public fears over the uncertainty post-2014, Karzai on several occasions publicly stated the US wanted to maintain military bases in Afghanistan in any circumstances. However, the president was unable to come up with a clear stance over the withdrawal plan. Most Afghan analysts seem to believe the country's collapse into chaos is inevitable should the US call all its troops home.
Political commentator Faizollah Jalal told Tolo TV he blamed the president for jeopardizing the country's national interests by "seeking interests and guarantees for himself and his family's assets in 2014 and beyond". Jalal said Washington should consider Afghanistan a partner instead of Karzai when making a decision on the country's future.