Shouting matches in the palace

Radio Netherlands
01/09/0212
By Bette Dam
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NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has cast off his politeness. Although the alliance is in Afghanistan at the invitation of its President Hamid Karzai, widespread corruption within the administration led Mr de Hoop Scheffer to publicly criticise the Kabul government in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. Behind the scenes discussions with the president about his weak administration are said to have been going on for much longer.

When visiting the country, corruption and an inefficient Afghan government are impossible to escape. Some are just relatively innocent incidents, like my interpreter having to pay substantial bribes to renew his driving licence, hotel owners receiving annoying visits by fake tax inspectors, students whose permission to go and study in India has been "sold on".

A stronger signal about Afghanistan's disturbed society came from a secret service director and good friend of Mr Karzai, who warned me not to go out onto the streets of Kabul. Taking a taxi together with my interpreter was out of the question. He said at the time, it was not just the Taliban that formed the problem; "our own police are very dangerous too."

It is assumed all too easily that the Taliban are behind attacks, kidnappings or roadside bombings. But things are more complicated that that. Government appointments make the administration weak, unrealiable and unsafe. In the southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan, figureheads are in power who have been providing support to Mr Karzai since 2001. NATO appears incapable of acting against them. Mr Karzai is not selecting these men for their education or knowledge; in this complicated tribal society other factors are at play.

Begging
Army leaders and diplomats regularly visit the palace to plead for certain appointments to be cancelled or for corrupt Afghan officials to be sacked. At night, these very officals pay a visit to the president. He shares a past with them or even a family relationship. Or he may need their help to ward off hostile groups or factions.

Outright shouting matches in the palace are the result of this tussling about positions, I have been told. The president is "wheeling and dealing", ostensibly firing a crony who is then allowed to continue his shady work away from the limelight. Mr Karzai appears to be governing from one day to another, for the sake of his mere survival.

Camp Holland
A Dutch diplomat in Camp Holland told me that the Netherlands, a NATO member, is simply waiting for the appointment of a new president. "Only then will something change in the area." The Dutch have repeatedly criticised Uruzgan's local Education Minister, Mualim Rachmatullah. He has been in power in Uruzgan since Mr Karzai's reign and is likely to remain there.

The Dutch I spoke to say he is a crook: you cannot conclude any agreements with him, the money is disappearing, and the man is mainly focused on his own building companies, people in Camp Holland have told me. The Dutch want to build schools in Uruzgan but are frustrated by the unreliable education minister, who continues to enjoy Mr Karzai's support.

NATO will go on supporting Mr Karzai, but is hoping that the president will not avoid making political choices. Some Afghans in Tarin Kowt have had enough. They are facing an impossible choice given the increasing hostility towards the government, which the Taliban are quick to exploit. One man who supported President Karzai when he came to power, is desperate:

"Is there a third way? Something totally new, no Karzai, no Taliban, but something else?"

The book 'Expedition Uruzgan, Hamid Karzai's road to the palace' by Bette Dam will be published early this year (in Dutch).