Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission
“I always keep a spare taste in my hat” |
A former U.N envoy to Afghanistan on has questioned the “mental stability” of Hamid Karzai and suggested the Afghan president may be using drugs.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown,” Peter Galbraith described Karzai as “off-balance” and “emotional.” Galbraith also called for President Barack Obama to vastly limit Karzai’s power to appoint officials within the war-torn country until he proves himself a reliable partner to the U.S.
“He’s prone to tirades. He can be very emotional, act impulsively. In fact, some of the palace insiders say that he has a certain fondness for some of Afghanistan’s most profitable exports,” said Galbraith, in an apparent reference to opium or heroin.
When asked whether he meant Karzai has a substance abuse problem, Galbraith responded: “There are reports to that effect. But whatever the cause is, the reality is that he is — he can be very emotional…”
Galbraith was fired by the United Nations in September as the U.N.’s No. 2 official in Afghanistan after he openly accused his boss, Kai Eide, of concealing election fraud that benefited the campaign of the incumbent president. Eide angrily denied the accusation.
Is the papier mache model we’ve been presented for almost a decade starting to degrade and dissolve?
I don’t know.
He’s just nuts from time to time, don’t judge people! 🙂
It’s a no-brainer.
So, an embittered ex-UN staffer makes claims against his boss and the leader of a nation. He has no evidence but loves to insinuate things. Sounds good to me.
I’ve met Karzai twice, in formal situations. More importantly, I’ve worked closely with ministers who know him very well. None have ever accused him of using drugs. They say he is quite high strung, though, and gets upset at all the hoops he has to jump through to get things done.
Does he use drugs? I don’t know. Neither does Galbraith, it seems.
Ah, he’s not cooperating, so the information war against him begins.
Reminds of of how we used to support Saddam Hussein until he didn’t cooperate enough, then our PR machine turned on him, and after ignoring his aggression (10 year war with Iran) and human rights violations we all of the sudden began to care and started pointing OUT things he did that were “evil” (although he’d been DOING horrible things for years).
So here we go again. Another foreign leader fails to fall in line, so our PC machine begins to pick him apart and make him a new enemy so we feel ok with our eventual action against him.
Deja Vu
#4 – I’ve never met Karzai myself. Are you sure the guy you met wasn’t this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erick_Avari
Don’t know, but it would make for a great excuse if this turns out to be poor foreign diplomacy / relations under the current administration. Pass the buck.
He’s no crazier than Dick Cheney.
…looks like we will have a new president in Afghanistan, after Karzai is declared insane…didn’t they do the same thing to Aristide in Haiti as soon as he didn’t want to play by the rules?
What are the odds now for Mr. Karzai finding an IED planted by “insurgents”? High and getting higher … if you will pardon the drug related pun.
After 8 years basically locked up in his offices, and completely out of touch with the reality of his country and his own people, it is time for Karzai to go. He may not be on drugs, but he is becoming mentally unstable and out of touch with reality.
Galbraith is the son of J.K. Galbraith. His Wikipedia entry, is impressive.
#6 – Uhm, well, geez!
If he ain’t on drugs, he needs some… lithium.
Seems like opiates would mellow him out, not make him prone to tirades.
If he starts playing jazz saxophone, its time for a blood test.
Meanwhile, his secret lies beneath his lamb-fetus hat.
You mean Peter Galbraith the son of John Kenneth Galbraith, who after teaching national-security strategy at Washington, D.C.’s National War College manipulated his “diplomatic” relationship with the Kurds to push them into conflict with Iraq central governmentand helped to creat Sweetheart deals for Aspect Energy, Dana Gas, Gulf,Keystone, Hunt Oil (Ray Hunt- a George W. Bush “Pioneer” donor and former Halliburton board member) , OMV, Reliance, Sterling Energy, WesternZagros and DNO. DNO, who’s executives had quietly given Galbraith, along with Norwegian businessman Rosjo, a combined cut of 10% of the field’s future revenue.
Yeah that guy’s word should be trusted. No Agernda there. And that fact that we see NBC pushing this new meme on Karzi shows you how truly f*cked we are.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/144/combustible.html?page=0%2C0
yes