Seriously, if I ran this past head Hollywood honchos as a concept, they would have me out the door in an LA minute. But the joke is writing itself! And it WOULD be funny were it not for the terrible attack today on the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan by the very same Taliban that Karzai says he will join.
Lawmakers: Afghan leader threatens to join Taliban
By AMIR SHAH and CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writers Amir Shah And Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press WritersKABUL – Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened over the weekend to quit the political process and join the Taliban if he continued to come under outside pressure to reform, several members of parliament said Monday.
Karzai made the unusual statement at a closed-door meeting Saturday with selected lawmakers — just days after kicking up a diplomatic controversy with remarks alleging foreigners were behind fraud in last year's disputed elections.
If they never have directly before, today the Taliban announced quite clearly their enmity toward the United States. And these are the people Karzai wants to join?
Here is Secretary Clinton's statement on today's attack.
Attack on U.S. Consulate in Peshawar
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
April 5, 2010I am outraged and deeply saddened by the assault on our Consulate in Peshawar. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Pakistani security personnel who were killed and all those who were injured. Attacks on diplomatic missions strike at the heart of international cooperation and are unacceptable in any country at any time. We condemn this attack on our mission, the recent bombings in Baghdad that targeted other diplomatic missions, and all such crimes.
The assault this morning is part of a wave of violence perpetrated by brutal extremists who seek to undermine Pakistan’s democracy and sow fear and discord. The Pakistani people have suffered grievous losses, but they are standing firm in the face of this intimidation -- and the United States stands with them.
We are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our staff -- both American and Pakistani -- as well as the security of our facilities. And we are coordinating closely with Pakistan authorities, who are working to bring the attackers to justice. We deeply appreciate the quick, effective support of Pakistani Security Forces. This tragedy underscores the common challenges our nations face and deepens the commitment of the United States to strengthen our partnership.
Here is P.J. Crowley today at the press briefing on the subject of Karzai's crazy comment . As you can see, P.J. had a pretty hard time fending off these questions. I do not believe the press was particularly satisfied with his responses.
Karzai is a totally loose cannon! I do not believe McChrystal, Secretary Clinton, or anyone else is going to get real cooperation from him. This is such a crazy story, and I was so happy in the "No Daily Appointments" sandbox earlier. I think I'll just post a really beautiful picture of the Secretary of State in Afghanistan. It will not clear up any confusion, change any policies, or get Hamid Karzai back on the rails, I know, but it will make me smile, and they say smiling releases happy hormones. *Do not ask me who "they" are. I do not know.*QUESTION: P.J., speaking of Afghanistan, what is with President Karzai?
MR. CROWLEY: The Secretary had a discussion with President Karzai on --
QUESTION: It doesn’t seem to have done much good.
MR. CROWLEY: -- Friday afternoon. We’re focused, looking ahead, to the important work that we have with the Afghan Government. We have a common goal. We want to see the Afghan National Government expand, assert itself, and, over time, take greater responsibility for security and agriculture and the basic elements of Afghanistan’s future. So our goals are the same, and beyond that --
QUESTION: Well, do you take him seriously?
MR. CROWLEY: Hmm?
QUESTION: Do you take him seriously?
MR. CROWLEY: He is the elected leader of --
QUESTION: Yeah, but he says that he’s threatening to join the Taliban. I mean, is this a serious threat, in your estimation?
MR. CROWLEY: That particular comment is a bit of a head scratcher. But beyond that, we were troubled by some of his comments last week. We think we’ve addressed them. We’re moving forward.
QUESTION: Yeah, but isn’t it – is it still – do you still think that this guy is an effective, capable, competent leader given –
MR. CROWLEY: He is the leader –
QUESTION: I realize that he was allegedly elected in an election that you recognized in the end, but –
MR. CROWLEY: Yes, he is the elected leader of –
QUESTION: Yeah, but do you have confidence in him when he keeps going off the handle like this?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, we – I’ll leave the president and his government to explain his comments. He was in Kandahar with General McChrystal yesterday. We are working with the government on the way forward both in terms of military operations, but as we were just talking about before, working with specific ministries. We want to see the Government of Afghanistan step up, take responsibility in key areas, demonstrate the kind of leadership that the Afghan people are expecting of it. We are there in Afghanistan because – in our national interest to do so. We’re obviously spending significant resources both on the military side and the civilian side to do that. But there are clearly things that we want to see the government step up and do, and we’re working with President Karzai and his government to see that happen.
