06 April 2010

He May Not Be "Our Bastard" Any More...

There's an old adage in realist politics that deals with unsavoury characters and the often-necessary need to side up with less-than-reputable folks:

"He may be a bastard, but he's our bastard."

For a good long while many people have been highly wary of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai and his unwillingness to tackle corruption, move forward on women's rights, and certain other tactics he's employed during his leadership of the country. The rather lame defence of Karzai in this context is that he's the least bad option available and that alternatives to his leadership run the gamut from much worse dictatorial types all the way to the Taliban. Well, the times, they may be a-changin':

"Afghan President Hamid Karzai twice threatened to quit politics and join the Taliban if the West continued to pressure him to enact reforms, legislators said Monday."

1 comment:

cranky man said...

Give him a jeep and let him take his suitcase with american bux and point the way to the hills.