Committed to Karzai

Watching the Obama administration make nice with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after a bruising fight last month is a little like watching a friend return to a bad marriage with an unreliable spouse. You listen to all the reasons why staying together makes sense — the kids, commitment, money. Or in this case, commitment, stability and a common enemy. You see the logic, the lack of alternatives. You hope for the best, but worry it won’t end well between them.

U.S. relations with Karzai have been strained (to put it diplomatically) since he was returned to power for a second term after a fraud-tainted election last year. President Obama traveled to Kabul in March with aides who delivered a public scolding of Karzai for failing to rein in corruption and deliver competent governance. Karzai lashed out, threatening to join the Taliban if the U.S. and its allies didn’t back off. So with Karzai in Washington this week, the administration is trying the opposite tack: smiles and a public embrace.

“President Obama and President Karzai both understand that the ability to disagree on issues of importance is not an obstacle to achieving our shared objectives, but rather it reflects a level of trust,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered. Karzai is making the right noises too. In the Washington Post last week he wrote: “We are grateful for America’s contributions and will always remember your resolve in standing by us.” He added: “Delivering good governance and rooting out corruption are among my government’s top priorities.”

Honest, we’re going to make the marriage work this time.

The fact is, with about 90,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and a pending military offensive in the Taliban’s heartland of Kandahar, Obama and Karzai cannot be squabbling in public. Their counterinsurgency strategy depends on offering Afghans an alternative to the Taliban, and so long as Karzai is president, that means working together. Kabul must develop the capacity to provide security to the cities it proposes to govern and safety to those who switch sides. The Afghan government must be able to provide rule of law, work, schools and other services if it hopes to gain and retain support in contested areas. The Obama administration invited Karzai’s Cabinet ministers to Washington so that the bilateral relationship does not depend solely on one man. This can help, but Karzai needs to step up to the challenge too if he and the U.S. are to beat back the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan. The relationship can succeed only if both partners are committed.