Obama’s three Afghan mistakes

The Obama administration did not inherit a good situation in Afghanistan. But decisions it has taken have made the situation there worse. First, during the transition it flirted with the idea of withdrawing US support from Hamid Karzai but did not follow through. The result of this was that Karzai—worried about losing American support—came to rely ever more heavily on the support of the worst elements in his circle making him an even worse partner than before.

Second it downplayed the importance of democracy promotion. Some might claim that this was sensible pragmatism. But the blow dealt to the Afghan mission, both on the ground and over here, by the blatant rigging of the election demonstrates that a legitimate government is hugely important to both counter-insurgency on the ground and sustaining support for the war in this and other countries that are sending troops over there.

Finally, Obama has left his allies hanging.