Department of Wishful Thinking

Karzai: Ponies for everyone

Hamid Karzai vows to fight corruption in Afghanistan and create an inclusive government. The Guardian, analyzing Karzai's sudden fondness for transparency, dryly notes:

Karzai echoed the commitments that his western backers had pushed him to accept, including appointing a clean government and making progress in peace negotiations with the Taliban.

Standing next to Karzai as he made this announcement was Muhammad Qasim Fahim, one of his vice presidents -- and a notorious Afghan drug lord. (No word on whether Rashid Dostum was in the audience, too.)

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Former drug lord? I wonder. Maybe he wants to help the government put his rivals out of business so he can have a monopoly in the area he has paid the government to help him control.

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U.S. poll: Karzai won't win in first round

Hamid Karzai will not win the Afghan election in the first round, according to a new poll funded by the U.S. government. It found just 36% support for Karzai; his closest rival, Abdullah Abdullah, polled around 20%.

Debating Karzai

Hamid Karzai finally showed up for a presidential debate in Afghanistan yesterday -- after canceling his scheduled appearance at last month's debate -- and it didn't go too well for him.

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Al-Akhbar: Our weekly brief

Peace Processing

Talking about direct talks: Netanyahu returns to the White House

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivering a statement in Jerusalem on July 1, 2010. (Photo: AFP)
US president Barack Obama will use a White House meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an extended West Bank settlement freeze. If Netanyahu doesn't offer one - and the domestic politics are quite difficult for him - it's hard to see any possibility of direct talks with the Palestinian Authority later this year.

The Afghan Surge

Obama's southern strategy

Gen. David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Reuters)
The president's decision to nominate Gen. David Petraeus as the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan won't mean a major change in strategy. But there are mounting reasons for pessimism about current policy, particularly the relentless focus on southern Afghanistan. The deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops to Kandahar and Helmand serves few NATO objectives.

Freedom Flotilla Killings

Anticlimax: How much did the flotilla raid really change regional politics?

A demonstration in London against the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla. (Photo: AFP)
It has accelerated Israel's isolation from several of its neighbors and allies; it has sharpened divisions within Turkish domestic politics; it has deepened perceptions that the Obama administration as too close to Israel. And it seems to have had a remarkably minor impact on Palestinian domestic politics.