Wednesday, September 30, 2009

How VP Joe lost his faith in Karzai

As Vice-President Joe Biden takes an increasingly important role as spokesman for the need to reduce troops in Afghanistan, the New Republic runs an interesting piece (wow, haven't said those words in a while) on the evolution of Biden's approach to American military intervention.

Biden, who was once friendly with Karzai, increasingly soured on him as Afghanistan fell into corrupt anarchy. This key moment, which took place in February of 2008, appears to have been the breaking point for then Senator Biden:

Biden and his colleagues grilled Karzai about reports of corruption and the growing opium trade in the country, which the president disingenuously denied. An increasingly impatient Biden challenged Karzai's assertions until he lost his temper. Biden finally stood up and threw down his napkin, declaring, "This meeting is over," before he marched out of the room with Hagel and Kerry. It was a similar story nearly a year later...Again Biden dined with Karzai, and, again, the meeting was contentious. Reiterating his prior complaints about corruption, Biden warned Karzai that the Bush administration's kid-glove treatment was over; the new team would demand more of him.

I've argued all along that once you turn on the Afghanistan War, there's no turning back. It's somewhat comforting to know that the Vice-President, chosen as he was for his foreign policy experience, is on the reasonable side of the Afghanistan policy debate.

Apologies for the low-quality picture, but it was the only one I could find of just the two of them where Biden was not smiling as if delighted.

No comments:

Post a Comment