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NEWS ABOUT: Hamid Karzai

Stop Wasting $110B a Year on These Turkeys

As Arabs spread democracy, we prop up Afghan, Pakistan regimes

(Newser) - Democracy is on the march across the Arab world, so "What are we doing spending $110 billion this year supporting corrupt and unpopular regimes in Afghanistan and Pakistan that are almost identical to the governments we’re applauding the Arab people for overthrowing?" asks Thomas Friedman in the New ... More »

9 Children Killed in US Attack: Karzai

Officials say they were gathering firewood on a mountainside

(Newser) - A US artillery attack killed nine children and injured a tenth yesterday in Kunar province, Afghan officials declared today. The kids, ages 8 to 14, were reportedly out gathering firewood when rocket fire hit a nearby outpost. The base’s defenders say they responded with “indirect and aerial fire,... More »

Petraeus Suggests Afghans Burned Own Children

Participants at a recent meeting say comments offended Karzai

(Newser) - US officials were already skeptical of claims that a military operation last week killed 65 Afghan civilians , but now Gen. David Petraeus has apparently taken things a step further: During a Sunday meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Petraeus reportedly suggested Afghans burned their own children in an effort to... More »

US May Indict Karzai Brother

Grand jury probing racketeering, extortion allegations

(Newser) - Mahmood Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has risen from running a few modest restaurants in the US to being one of Afghanistan's most prosperous businessman. Federal authorities, believing there was more than just a little shady dealing along the way, are seeking his indictment on racketeering, extortion, and... More »

Afghanistan to Stop Using Kids as Soldiers, Sex Slaves

Will sign UN pledge to end unsavory practice

(Newser) - Afghanistan will sign a formal agreement at the UN tomorrow promising to stop using young boys as police or military sex slaves, the New York Times reports. Hamid Karzai ordered the deal after Afghanistan was placed on a UN blacklist for “grave violations against children in armed combat.... More »

All Alone, Karzai Twists in Political Wind

Allies are deserting Afghan leader after failed stalling tactic

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s new parliament was finally sworn in yesterday, much to Hamid Karzai’s chagrin. The Afghan president’s failed bid to delay the new parliament’s arrival is the latest in a string of political miscues that have left Karzai in a precarious position, diplomats, analysts, and Afghan lawmakers... More »

Karzai Relents, Agrees to Seat Afghan Parliament

Lawmakers can get to work next week, finally

(AP) - Under heavy pressure from Afghan lawmakers and Western diplomats, President Hamid Karzai agreed today to convene the newly elected parliament, ending a political standoff that threatened to spark a constitutional crisis. After hours of tense discussions at the presidential palace, Karzai backed off his earlier order to delay the session... More »

Karzai Refuses to Seat New Parliament

Lawmakers plan to convene anyway this weekend

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai has delayed the inauguration of Afghanistan’s newly elected parliament, at the behest of a court he appointed himself to hear complaints from losing candidates largely loyal to him. Those candidates complain that fraud and security concerns excluded many people from the vote. But Karzai’s international allies... More »

GOP Senators Take Secret Afghanistan Trip

Mitch McConnell and crew return with praise for Obama's strategy

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell and a handful of other Senate Republicans took a secret trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan this weekend, announcing the trip only today—just before their return flight. The group, which included Lindsey Graham, Richard Burr, and freshmen Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Pat Toomey, and Kelly Ayotte, met with... More »

Biden to Karzai: We'll Stay Past 2014

But he promises US will 'not be an occupying force'

(Newser) - So much for “hell or high water.” Joe Biden met with Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan yesterday, and emerged telling reporters that the US would be willing to keep troops in the country past 2014, provided the Afghan government wanted them there. “We have moved into a new... More »

Biden Makes Surprise Afghanistan Visit

VP to review progress in security handover

(Newser) - The vice president has made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. Joe Biden is in the country to review progress as allied forces turn security over to Afghan hands, the AP reports. He’s set to meet with President Karzai and US commander David Petraeus, the White House says; he’ll... More »

Karzai Waxed Poetic About 'Golden Age' of Bush

US ambassador told Afghan president to worry about the present

(Newser) - The White House doesn't bring Hamid Karzai flowers anymore, and the Afghan president is caught in a diplomatic cable waxing poetically over "the golden age" of US-Afghan relations under George W Bush. The cable was sent by Ambassador Karl Eikenberry last year after a meeting with Karzai, reports the... More »

Obama Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan

He'll be thanking US troops

(AP) - President Obama slipped unannounced into Afghanistan today, one year after widening an ever deadlier war and just days before a pivotal review about the 9-year-plus conflict. Under intense security, Obama landed in darkness after a clandestine departure from the White House yesterday. He was to personally thank US troops for... More »

Afghanistan Is Even More Corrupt Than You Thought

WikiLeaks' cables paint hopeless picture

(Newser) - WikiLeaks’ State Department cable dump paints an almost comically bleak picture of Afghan corruption. How bad is it? So bad that in January, the American Embassy noted that the agriculture minister “appears to be the only minister … about whom no allegations of bribery exist,” according to the... More »

Afghan Government Frees Taliban Fighters for Cash

WikiLeaks cable reveals US fury over prisoner release

(Newser) - Taliban commanders no longer fear capture because Afghan security forces are freeing fighters in return for cash or political favors. The practice has become so widespread that the Taliban have a committee devoted to securing the release of prisoners, reports Reuters , citing sources familiar with a range of cases. One... More »

Karzai Government Slams 'Premature' Election Results

Could just be a move to influence results from a final, lingering province

(Newser) - The results are in and the government of President Hamid Karzai is none too pleased: As the United Nations stepped up to endorse Afghanistan's long-awaited parliamentary election results yesterday, Karzai's government promised to challenge the outcome. The New York Times reports that Karzai can count on about 100 of the... More »

Chaos Surrounds Afghan's 'Final' Election Results

For starters, votes in one province can't be counted

(Newser) - The main electoral body in Afghanistan released today what it says are the final results of September's parliamentary election, but results for an entire province were withheld because rampant violence, intimidation, and voter fraud made a fair tally impossible. As the results were announced, angry supporters of disqualified candidates staged... More »

Taliban Chief at Peace Talks Was Impostor

Fake leader paid handsomely for taking part in talks

(Newser) - A "Taliban leader" heavily involved in peace talks in Afghanistan was an impostor, according to US and Afghan officials. The man, who pretended to be high-ranking Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, was flown to several meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and was given a sizable sum of cash for... More »

NATO, US See Lengthy Stay in Afghanistan

Combat operations might end in 2004, followed by support mission

(Newser) - The NATO summit resulted in lots of talk about "transition goals" for Afghanistan, but the only thing for certain is that US and NATO troops aren't going anywhere anytime soon. The official proclamation promises that allied forces will push to end combat operations by the end of 2014—but... More »

US Plans 2014 End to Afghan Combat

Phased withdrawal echoes Iraq exit strategy

(Newser) - The Obama administration has worked up a plan to complete the US combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014, gradually shifting security into the hands of Afghan troops, insiders tell the New York Times . The piecemeal strategy, which echoes the phased Iraq withdrawal, will be presented at a NATO meeting in... More »

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