In the latest example of how many of the battles of the Obama Administration in Afghanistan are no longer related to the Taliban, reports have the US now vigorously propping up the Afghan-Canadian governor of Kandahar, Tooryalai Wesa, in an effort to provide an alternative to reported drug lord and provincial council chief Wali Karzai.
Faced with a choice between the largely irrelevant Governor Wesa and the near legendary corruption of Wali Karzai, the half brother of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the US appears to have picked the former.
Funding and providing staff to the governor’s office, US forces have even been providing Wesa with helicopters for transportation. But Wesa has always been an afterthought for the people of Kandahar, and his sudden status as US favorite is unlikely to win him any popularity contests in a region where Karzai’s tribal and criminal connections run almost everything.
The reports are a sharp contrast from just two weeks ago, when the Obama Administration was so resigned to Wali Karzai’s presence that they were said to be meeting with him regularly. Strategies change quickly in Kandahar though, and alliances change with them.
Pardon, but even a sober Guy Debord might appreciate this as grand situationist comedy:
Hamid tells Uncle Sama Obama, main investor in his Afghan restaurant, that Uncle Sama Obama is whacking too many customers.
"It's bad for baksheesh", Hamid says defiantly.
Uncle Sama Obama then punishes Hamid's brother Wali, a legend for the tips he makes in Hamid's restaurant, by showering gifts on Tooryalai Wesa, a rival restauranteur.
Wesa has never got so much attention from Uncle Sama Obama and under the table gratefully shareshis new loot with Wali.
Wali tells Hamid , who is also pleased, for unbeknownst to Uncle Sama Obama, Hamid has a controlling interest in Wesa's eats.
Meanwhile, Mad Dog McKnife Chrystal, Uncle Sama Obama's Hillbilly Hit Man, runs eight miles a day, eats one meal and sleeps only four hours a night trying to figure out how to win the hearts and minds of the people.
Stay tuned.