Khalilzad for President? (No, Not Here!)

Wake me up if this is a nightmare, but suddenly the idea that Zalmay Khalilzad might try to become president of Afghanistan is being taken seriously indeed.

That a fierce American neocon might actually try to install himself as the elected leader of a country occupied by American troops might be laughable--but no. What's next? Will Bill Kristol challenge Nouri al-Maliki to be Iraq's next prime minister? How about Joe Lieberman replacing beleaguered Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert?

That Zal-Khal might run for president in Afghanistan has been rumored around for a while, and the people I've talked to don't know what to make of it. But in today's Washington Post, in Al Kamen's "In the Loop" column, it's treated, well, seriously.

Kamen quotes Richard Holbrooke, the Democratic foreign policy guru, saying a bit jocularly that Zal-Khal's recent talk at the Asia Society provoked backroom gossip that he might actually run. (Khalilzad, by the way, is Sunni Pashtun Afghan by birth.) Kamen goes on to say:

He told Afghanistan's Ariana Television Network in April that "I have said earlier that I'm not a candidate for any position in Afghanistan, but I am at the service of the Afghan people." That huge trial balloon has never stopped orbiting the earth.

And an article Sunday in the Independent, a British newspaper, said that "representatives of Mr. Khalilzad . . . have discreetly sounded out various factions to ascertain his chances." The article, written from Kabul, said that "many Afghan commentators say he would enjoy a high degree of support."

You can read the whole Independent article, titled "Bush's former Iraq ambassador to seek Afghan presidency," here. Quote:

Three meetings have been held with opposition groups in recent months to promote Mr Khalilzad, pictured, as a "unifying" candidate in a country where deep divisions have begun to emerge between the Pashtun communities of the south and the Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras of the north.

If you've lost track of Zal-Khal's career, he was George W. Bush's inept envoy to the Iraqi opposition groups before the war in 2003, during which time be worked closely with Ahmed Chalabi, Kurdish separatists, and Shiite religious extremists to create the mess that became Iraq's governing council. His work done, he bumbled off to Afghanistan where he made a mess of that country as the first U.S. ambassador to the post-Taliban regime. Having succeeded in that task, he was promoted to the post of U.S. ambassador to Iraq, where he forced through the divisive and flawed Iraqi constitution that, to this day, guarantees political chaos in that country. Finally, he ended up replacing John Bolton as America's ambassador to the United Nations. A stellar record, indeed.

Comments (12)

1. Well, it may be as simple as...he knows he's going to be out of a job come January 2009.

   But, Mr Dreyfuss, Khalilzad has been BIPARTISAN in his jobs. Note: "During that time he worked closely with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Carter Administration's architect of the policy supporting the Mujahideen resistance to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan."---wikipedia.org

   So likely he can pull some of his old pals out to help boost his campaign.

   Regardless, Afghanistan (where we COULD have done some good with some money and troops) is the "red-headed step-child" of the Bush Middle East policy and will likely continue to be ignored....and under McCain, will likely be as well.

   Posted by Mask at 06/13/2008 @ 10:34am

2. when will the god forsaken war in Afghanistan receive the same scrutiny that the Iraq war has?

   hmmm, perhaps it has.

   Posted by emile duBois at 06/13/2008 @ 10:37am

3. 'Wake me up if this is a nightmare, but suddenly the idea that Zalmay Khalilzad might try to become president of Afghanistan is being taken seriously indeed.'

   Rand Corporation graduates becoming the new training ground for future world leadership -- we all better wake up! Neocon thinktanks are the new recruiting ground. They have got much of media, they have got the Pentagon, they have got much of Congress and currently the executive branch, and now they have got their eyes on international leadership. For those of us who don't believe in US neocon manifest destiny, neocon preemptive military action and intervention based on what groupthink neocons believe what "might" happen in the future rather than hard evidence, and for those of us who believe that taxpayers money should be spent for the betterment of America rather than for international corporate interests and so-called trusted allies, this is a wake up call that these folks will never give up, never compromise, and will not think twice about using any means to accomplish their goals.

   Paraphrasing John Connor to his mother Sara Conner in T1- "you can't bargain with it, you can't reason with it.....it will never stop."

   Posted by OneVote at 06/13/2008 @ 11:31am

4. Paraphrasing John Connor to his mother Sara Conner in T1- "you can't bargain with it, you can't reason with it.....it will never stop."----Posted by OneVote at 06/13/2008

   Not to get all EMILE ROLFey on you...

   but that was "Kyle Reese", not his son "John Connor" in T-1.

   Posted by Mask at 06/13/2008 @ 12:28pm

5. Not to get all EMILE ROLFey on you...

   but that was "Kyle Reese", not his son "John Connor" in T-1.

   Posted by Mask at 06/13/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

   Are you a anti-Semite or what?

   Just kidding Maskie. You are right....John Connor hadn't been born as yet...the child of Reese & Connor is John Connor.

   Posted by OneVote at 06/13/2008 @ 12:44pm

6. Posted by OneVote at 06/13/2008

   Naw....if it had been EMILE ROLF, he would have corrected your spelling of "Connor" from "John" to "Sarah"!

   heheh

   Posted by Mask at 06/13/2008 @ 1:22pm

7. heheh

   Posted by Mask at 06/13/2008 |

   me thinks you are right once again. Anal retentive comes to mind.

   heheh

   Posted by OneVote at 06/13/2008 @ 1:27pm

8. Let Zal-Khal run for office. If he wins he should get to deal directly with Obamas pick for Ambassador to either Iraq of Afghanistan, Gorge W. Bush.

   Posted by crabwalk at 06/13/2008 @ 3:02pm

9. Taliban strike frees hordes from prison

   From Saturday's Globe and Mail June 14, 2008 at 12:08 AM EDT

   KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Taliban militants pulled off a stunning and well-organized prison break at Kandahar city's massive jail last night, freeing close to 400 fellow insurgents, along with hundreds of murderers, kidnappers and common criminals.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 06/14/2008 @ 12:53am

10. After attack, Pak tribes turn to guns 14 Jun 2008, 0019 hrs IST,AP

    Fiercely independent tribesmen, angered by a US air strike that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers this week, vowed to raise a militia to help Pakistan's army defend the border with Afghanistan.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/14/2008 @ 01:03am

11. i'm saying the whole thing is stupid.

    and un"winnable".

    (remember, it wasn't too long ago that these ruthless barbarians were heroes in the brave struggle against the soviet menace.)

    fighting a war for a gas pipeline.........

    hey,

    according to what i posted, you just called the u.s. terrorists.

    lol.

    they are all evil.

    thou shalt not kill and all.....

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/15/2008 @ 01:05am

12. Hey, why not, it would be right in the Roman & other imperial traditions. Well suited to The Long Decline.

    Posted by sloper at 06/17/2008 @ 1:58pm