An Interview with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah – the main challenger of President Hamid Karzai in the 2009 presidential election – regarding Karzai’s recent anti-Western remarks

Q: What Is President Karzai’s purpose in adopting his recent stance against the West?

A: I was not surprised when I heard his remarks because I have a good understanding of his personality. We provided him with the conditions for work, and furnished him with bodyguards when he first came to Kabul to head the Interim Government almost nine years ago. However, in his first meeting the CIA, he asked that he be given American bodyguards, because he did not trust the Afghans. Still, we believed that Karzai could work effectively for our country and our national interests.

Now the people of Afghanistan see that Karzai, who has been leading Afghanistan for nine years with the extensive support of the international community, blames the international community for all the fraud and mistakes that he made during his tenure in office. But he is doing this at a time when Afghanistan is in dire need of assistance from the international community, including from its military forces.

Q: What is Karzai’s goal in making such remarks? What does he hope to achieve?

A: In the past, Karzai has reaped benefits from such tactics and now he wants to get more concessions from the international community. But he forgets that the Afghan people now understand his methods and the international community is also tired of his changing policies.

His confidence is based on shaky foundations; he thinks he can go as far as he likes. He thinks he can control the upcoming parliamentary elections and establish a puppet legislature based on his own choices, not on the people’s votes, just as his team perpetrated widespread fraud during the presidential elections in August, 2009. In particular, Karzai aims to provoke people against foreigners, and he is trying to warn the West, especially the United States, not to react against his high-handed actions. This is to the detriment both of the Afghan people and of the international community, which is trying to fight terror and establish democracy in Afghanistan.

Q: Do you think that Karzai made his remarks in order to get closer to the Taliban?

A: Well, his goals may be both getting closer to the Taliban and getting some concessions from the international community, but he will achieve neither in the current situation. Karzai thinks he can sacrifice national and international interests for his own benefit, but the Afghan people understand his goals now and I hope that the international community will not be deceived by him again.

On the other hand, Karzai never really weighs his remarks or thinks them out beforehand. Such talk reveals his mental imbalance. Many times he has issued harsh criticism, only to apologize the next day.

Q: Some observers believe that those remarks were the result of bad advice from the president’s advisors. The speaker of the lower house has asked for the resignation of some members of Karzai’s inner circle. What is your opinion on this?

A: Undoubtedly the advisors are involved. Even if they have opposing views, they will give advice according to what they think Karzai wants to hear. I think Karzai should have apologized to the people of Afghanistan.

Q: In his speech, the president said that people’s votes had been controlled by an embassy. Which embassy did he have in mind?

A: Of course he meant the US embassy; but he has always underestimated the intellect and sense of Afghan people and his recent remarks are a good example of this fact. Everyone knows that the responsible body for the presidential elections was Karzai’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) and that the ballot boxes were also stuffed by government individuals loyal to him.

Karzai now wants to underestimate the intellect and sense of United States. Instead of institutionalizing the issue of sound cooperation with the international community, he wants to squander the opportunities Afghan people have gained because of the presence of the international community. You see how badly it affects the life of the Afghan people when time is wasted on such unnecessary issues.

Afghanistan needs to have a comprehensive plan to bring peace, eliminate corruption, combat poverty and rehabilitate its infrastructure. It does not need a president who sacrifices national and international interests for his personal aspirations.
 
Q: Karzai has harshly criticized foreign troops and US in the past but his recent remarks were made after the parliament rejected his legislative decree. In your opinion, what was the reason the he made these remarks in the Independent Election Commission?

A: I already knew that Karzai wanted to go to the IEC because both the head of the commission (Azizullah Lodin) and the head of the secretariat of the commission (Daud Ali Najafi) wanted to resign. No doubt the parliament’s decision rejecting his decree stirred his emotions. But instead of learning lessons from such legal actions, he started to create a new problem.

Q: Karzai harshly criticizes the West, particularly the United States at a time when there has been a lot of activity with regional partners. For example, Karzai held a press conference with Ahmadinejad during the Iranian president’s visit to Kabul, during which Ahmadinejad criticized the United States. Following that visit, Karzai went to Iran and to China. In your opinion, how big a role does anti-US sentiment play in Karzai’s recent actions?

A: Unfortunately, Karzai sometimes says things that do not correspond to the present facts in Afghanistan. For instance, when he went to China, he said that China was our real friend, while we extended our hands to other countries with no result. I, too, want to have good relations with our neighbors, but we should not forget that our problems are too great for those countries to take onto their shoulders. They will never be ready to pay as much money as the United States and its allies spend in Afghanistan now.

 Strengthening our relationships with neighboring countries is not worth weakening our relationship with the international community. Sometimes I think that Karzai does not have an accurate assessment of foreign relations.

Q: Now that the parliament has rejected Karzai’s legislative decree, what will happen with the upcoming parliamentary election?

A: It is obvious. Based on the Constitution, the parliament reserves the right to approve or reject legislative decrees. The previous Electoral Law is enforced and the election should be conducted based on it.

Q: Karzai, in his recent remarks, blamed foreigners for interfering in the previous presidential election and warned that the Taliban insurgency may be transformed into a national resistance. What impact will Karzai’s remarks have on relations between Afghanistan and the West?

A: The West, particularly the United States will be defeated in Afghanistan if they take decisions according to Karzai’s remarks. Karzai’s policy is affected by the problems of his anarchic system. He wants to hide his administration’s weaknesses and on the other hand, he wastes the opportunities. Instead, he should think about strengthening mutual relations and establishing a good government. 

I think the United States will never be influenced by such changing positions and will not abandon Afghanistan. Afghanistan has achieved many successes with the international community despite the weaknesses of its government. The world has understood the threat of terrorism; therefore, one person’s emotional remarks could never affect the war on terror and development in Afghanistan.
 
Q: Some analysts believe that the West has no alternative to Karzai, so they have to accept Karzai’s will, and Karzai has understood this. What do you think?

A: Karzai was declared as a president and the world recognizes him. If he thinks that as a president he can do anything he wants, he is wrong. As a president he should consider national interests and think about the good of his people. He should pay attention to the fact that people of all tribes and provinces are exhausted by his government’s acts.

On the other hand, his government’s sustainability depends on the support of the West, particularly United States. It should not be forgotten that such remarks benefit neither the Afghan people nor the international community.

Q: Dr. Abdullah, what are your future plans?

A: We were and are with Afghan people in trying to achieve our “Hope and Change” goal. We have formed a strong political coalition to democratize power. We will introduce our representatives – both male and female -- for the upcoming parliamentary election and we will strongly support them.