Karzai and the Taliban talking and soon they might have a common enemy

Hamad Karzai is now criticising the West and in doing so it has to be said that he has nothing to lose. On the other hand, it would not be that easy for the West to follow up any criticism of him with his removal from office. This, of course, means not only might we have underestimated the Afghani president as a political player, but the West's days on the Hindukush might indeed be at an end much quicker than we thought. After all, what is to stop Karzai demanding that the so-called "international community" leave the country? Such a move could, indeed, lead to a wave of popular support for the government in Kabul, while at the same time facilitating a real agreement with the taliban.

In the meantime, the Germans appear to be more and more involved in the fighting and so much so, that we have the German Defence Minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, saying that Germany is to at war or we can at least colloquially refer to it as "war". He did quickly qualify his statement by saying that, from a legal point of view, it wasn't a war. Yes, Karl-Theodor has to mince his words. After all, with German boys killing and being killed in foreign fields, the legal basis for the "Bundeswehr" being in Afghanistan is tenuous to say the least. Should Kazai be able to reach some agreement with the taliban, we might expect the German contribution to 'Uncle Sam's' imperial adventure to come to a hasty end.

What would this mean? well, with the disintegration of "international community", and that is what the "Bundeswehr" leaving Afghanistan would mean, we would be left more or less, with the Anglo-Americans occupying Afghanistan and that against the wishes of the government in Kabul. Moreover, while it might, at the moment, all seem purely speculative, it is all too easy to discern method behind Kakzai's apparent madness. No, this is not only not madness, but it also has a hint of the machiavellien maverick to it. There is evidence today that the United States and its sychophants are not having it all their own way either on the battlefield or off it and the man with the shawls, who pockets aid money, who wheels and deals as he sees fit, who will talk to all and sundry to stay comfortable and stay in Kabul, is maybe not a puppet after all but rather an Afghani doing what Afghanis have always done in a similar situation and will continue to do for the foreseeable future. What was it Bismark once said about the whole of the Balkans not being worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier?