Karzai sucking up to the Russians

January 29, 4:54 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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Congressional Republicans aren't the only ones playing chicken with newly elected President Obama.  Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is no longer feeling the "Bush love" and is wondering whether the new Obama Administration will be as easy to buffalo as the Bush team.  What better way to test the love than make the other party jealous?

With Obama signaling for months that he would turn a cold shoulder, Karzai has responded by reaching out to another regional player, Russia. That development, regional observers say, could pose distinct peril for the region. It also runs against the current of Afghan history in which so many leaders of the present government fought to free Afghanistan from the yoke of the former Soviet Union. It leaves some wondering if Karzai's posturing isn't more an act of desperation than a savvy political move.

Afghanistan and Russia are now engaged in what appear to be cordial and mutually beneficial negotiations to improve Afghanistan's defense, at the same time shoring up Karzai's increasingly shaky position and providing a counterweight to the United States' domination of the region.

"If the United States will not help us, we will ask other countries for tanks and planes," Karzai told a graduating class of military cadets in Kabul on Sunday.

The "other countries" remark was widely viewed as a reference to Russia.

"Karzai's initiative could drive Afghanistan into a dangerous crisis," said Ahmad Sayedi, a former Afghan diplomat. "This move is not strategic, it is tactical. It is crystal clear that Karzai wants to use (Russia) as a tool of pressure on Obama's new administration, but this will simply not work."

We've yet to hear a coherent strategy on Afghanistan coming out of the new Obama Administration.  Lots of warnings from Gen. Petraeus that what worked well in Iraq won't work well in Afghanistan, Sec. Gates claim that Afghanistan is a top priority of the Administration, sharply ramped up U.S. troop levels, and rumors that President Karzai was negotiating a political settlement with the Taliban, but no statements from the President about the end game there.