The Karzai I knew then is different from the Karzai I see now -- but he has some good reasons for weirding out

By artappraiser on Thu, 04/14/2011 - 10:08pm |

By Thomas E. Ricks & Lt. Cdr. James Sisco, Best Defense @ Foreignpolicy.com, April 14, 2011

Recently when re-reading Lewis Sorley's A Better War I was struck by his comparison of American and Vietnamese leaders: "Ngueyn Van Thieu, for example, was arguably a more honest and decent man than Lyndon Johnson and…quite likely a more effective president of his country. General Vien was at least as professional and dedicated as General Earle G. Wheeler, and probably somewhat less irrelevant." (P. 186)

Keep that in mind as we consider our Iraqi and Afghan allies-for example, Afghan President Hamid Karzai. This guest column speaks to that issue:

By Lt. Cdr. James Sisco
Best Defense guest columnist.....

URL:

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/04/14/the_karzai_i_knew_then_is_different_from_the_karzai_i_see_now_but_he_has_some_good_