US Drafts ‘Afghan Compact’ to Press Karzai for Reforms

Proposed Compact Would Call for Ouster of Ministers

McClatchy Newspapers is reporting tonight that the United States has been secretly drafting an “Afghan Compact” full of reforms and anti-corruption measures that the Obama Administration will press Karzai to implement.

The document will reportedly urge the Afghan government to crack down on corruption and will call for the replacement of ministers seen by the US as “ineffective.”

Several European diplomats have been talking about holding a conference among all the nations involved in occupying Afghanistan to draft a compact as well, but
it was not readily apparent if any of those nations were involved in this move, or if that is a second effort still forthcoming.

President Karzai has insisted that he will crack down on corruption now that the election is over, but he has made similar promises in the past. The decidedly corrupt election process that eventually put Karzai in power likewise suggests that he will struggle to credibly tackle the issue.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.