Carville Working to Unseat Karzai?
KABUL (AP) -- A Democratic Party strategist who helped Bill Clinton get into the White House is now assisting a former Afghan finance minister in his campaign to unseat President Hamid Karzai in upcoming elections.
James Carville said he joined the team of Ashraf Ghani, also a former World Bank official, so Afghans had a viable choice in the Aug. 20 poll.
"This is probably the most important election held in the world in a long time," Carville told The Associated Press in a telephone interview late Tuesday. "This is probably the most interesting project I have ever worked in my life."...
Carville's ties with the Democratic Party - and in particular Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan - is likely to raise questions about Washington's stance....
I was a bit shocked to read this story. I am one of those that think this may be a bad idea for the Obama administration.
Even if they truly have nothing to do with Carville's working for the opposition in Afghanistan, it will APPEAR that the U.S. is backing whoever it is that Carville is helping to take on Karzai in August.
If Karzai wins it could also influence our relationship with Karzai in future matters.
I think President Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton and Holbrooke should at the very least make separate announcements stating their opposition to Carville's actions in Afghanistan and ask Carville to resign from his position there.
In Carville's defense, he's probably getting good money and experience to do this and that is why he's doing it; but it just doesn't help U.S. relations with the country at all.
If the Obama administration were to take the action you propose; wouldn't that be interpreted as supporting Karzai and have all the same ramifications you suggest?
July 8, 2009 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
I disagree. They should REPEAT their non-support of EITHER candidates; but especially mention Carville's actions as NOT being part of their doing.
July 8, 2009 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
How would you suggest they phrase "ordering Carville out" as not there doing?
July 8, 2009 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
WOW! This is how we show the world how much we have changed. Karzai, under W, was the US candidate. He's an oil man, after all. So now the US is taking a position against Karzai, and we're not even doing it with the CIA and backing a coup. Nor are we hiring the Taliban to remove him. We've come a long way. We are still meddling, however. It will be interesting to see how things develop.
July 8, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink