Hamid Karzai’s dark theories are gaining traction in Afghanistan - washingtonpost

KABUL —  He has long been dismissed by critics as a cranky, embittered has-been, given to provocative rants against the American government whose might and money sustained his government for years — and whose relationship with him eventually soured into a recrimination-filled frost.

But former Afghan president Hamid Karzai is not finished yet. The cagey politician and onetime Western protege, 60, maintains a wide circle of contacts from his artfully appointed, steel-walled compound in the Afghan capital. And as the current government struggles to cope with relentless violence by the Taliban and ­Islamic State amid a tangle of domestic political battles, Karzai’s criticisms are beginning to gain an audience in Afghanistan. 

His theories often sound conspiratorial and his proposals self-serving. It is not always easy to tell whether he believes his more far-fetched assertions, such as that the United States is secretly supporting the Islamic State offshoot in Afghanistan to justify establishing a large permanent military presence, dominate the country and control the volatile surrounding region.

American and Afghan special operations forces have been fighting together against Islamic State militants since 2014, and the U.S. and NATO continue to train and equip Afghan security forces. U.S. military officials say their long-term intentions are to establish a bulwark here against Islamist extremism and foreign aggression in a strategic neighborhood that includes Russia, Iran and China.

“The United States is not here to go to a party,” Karzai said in a recent interview with The Washington Post, sipping espresso in his book-lined study. “There is no need for them to build so many bases just to defeat a few Taliban. They are here because all the great American rivals are in the neighborhood, and we happen to be here, too. They are welcome to stay but not to deceive us.”

As the insurgent conflict drags into its 17th year and the once-diminished U.S. military role expands under the Trump administration, Karzai has repeatedly expressed strong opposition and fears of further escalation. “Too many Afghans are dying for an uncertain future,” he said. “We are too small and poor to ask the U.S. to stop, but we are a country, and our interests must be respected.”

Such comments can seem like a throwback to Karzai’s final years in power, when he took to angrily denouncing U.S. and NATO troops as foreign occupiers who bombed villages and raided homes with no regard for civilian life. As he left office in 2014, Karzai refused to sign an agreement allowing U.S. bases to remain in the country, although his successor Ashraf Ghani signed it as soon as he assumed the presidency.

These days, the former president is also voicing fears and suspicions that are shared by frustrated, confused and war-weary Afghans. Like him, many remain ambivalent about the American presence, deeply suspicious about next-door Pakistan’s role in abetting insurgents— a charge Pakistan has repeatedly denied — and fearful that an expanded U.S. military role may sink any prospects of peace. The Taliban has said repeatedly that it will not negotiate as long as foreign troops remain.

“Karzai is not alone in his paranoia,” said Davood Moradian, executive director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies. 

“People all over the region think Daesh is an American import,” Moradian said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. He said there was “historic precedent” for such suspicions, noting that the U.S. supported Islamist militias here during the Cold War and then abandoned the country. “Now Islamic extremism is out of control.” 

Some former associates wince at Karzai’s unrelenting attacks on his onetime U.S. benefactors and thinly veiled suggestions that Afghans should be courting powerful neighbors like Moscow instead. They argue that despite rough patches, Washington remains a far more trustworthy ally and that its support is crucial to the country’s survival. Ghani has developed a close relationship with U.S. military officials here, and American aid pays the lion’s share of government salaries. - Read More

Hamid Karzai’s dark theories are gaining traction in Afghanistan