Aohell

Abdul Rahman, Part III

Seems as though Mr. Rahman is safe and sound in Italy by now, and I'm glad for him. He was a dead man in Afghanistan. Poor Mr. Karzai, however, has no such relief. He was in a lose-lose situation and decided in favor of catering to foreign pressure. I don't think he wanted to kill Mr. Rahman: far from it. Mr. Karzai seems like a great guy.

The problem is that most the people in his country wanted Mr. Rahman to die for his apostasy. Now that the courts have been fudged in foreign favor, Mr. Karzai's legitimacy as anything more than the Mayor of Kabul has taken a solid whack. I surmise his ability to keep Kabul in control is significantly diminished, as well.

Mr. Karzai is struggling with drug lords to try and establish the rule of law in Afghanistan. With the justice system now obviously corrupted by foreign influence, that particular war is less winnable than before the strange case of Mr. Rahman came to light.

I must confess I'd be critical of the US' backing of Afghanistan's government if Mr. Rahman were killed for his change in belief. As I said, it was a lose-lose situation for Mr. Karzai. Had he given in to the clerics' demands, his authority as a leader would have been weakened in favor of a resurgent Islamic fundamentalism, which is already happening, anyway.

Mr. Karzai wasn't going to win. Nobody wins in Afghanistan. Mr. Rahman had to leave the country in order to get out of immediate harm. Mr. Karzai's still there, along with the rabid clerics, US bases all along a pipeline route, drug lords, and a record opium harvest.

No, nobody wins in Afghanistan, not even the Afghans.