Lynn C. Woolsey: “Last week's state visit did absolutely nothing to ease serious concerns about the leadership of Afghanistan President…”

“Last week's state visit did absolutely nothing to ease serious concerns about the leadership of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. Our counterterrorism strategy is supposed to depend on having a stable, responsive, transparent, democratic government that enjoys the confidence of the Afghan people. Instead, Mr. Karzai's government has proven itself to be irresponsible and ineffective in a way that jeopardizes his country's future and the safety of American troops. Karzai has lashed out at the United States, even threatening at one point to join the Taliban. And our own Ambassador to Afghanistan has publicly questioned his reliability as a strategic partner. While we have no choice but to have a dialogue with President Karzai, it is critical that our approach to this relationship involve at least as many sticks as carrots. We owe the American people some assurance that we are not letting the Afghan Government misuse our tax dollars with impunity. Mr. Speaker, the Center for American Progress has a new report that discusses the crisis of governance in Afghanistan.”