Karin von Hippel on Karzai in Associated Press

With fast approaching elections and intensifying criticism of the war in Afghanistan, Karzai may not be the cause behind the U.S.’s problems.

The elections in Afghanistan have been portrayed as an opportunity to reinforce democratic governance and bring legitimacy to a government confined to Kabul, plagued by corruption, and faulted for weak institutions.  These inadequacies have turned into a blame game between President Karzai and the U.S. administration, seeking to define a new strategy to stabilize the country and eventually bring American troops home. 

Karzai has become increasingly outspoken against the U.S., which has in turn blamed the once Western darling for not doing enough to tackle the problems in his own country.  But blaming Karzai may not be the best strategy.  Unreliable polls have him as the undisputed frontrunner for the August 20^th elections, even with serious damage done to his public image. 

von Hippel points out Afghanistan has had to withstand years of diverted resources to Iraq that may be more to blame for the higher death toll in recent months than Karzai’s shortcomings as a president. 

Flikr photo by rybolov used under a Creative Commons license.