inauguration

The last five days in Kabul were extremely busy.  The main story: Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s inauguration.  Or more importantly: the promises he made in his inaugural address.  Afghanistan’s allies were paying close attention. Watch my television report below for a summary of the speech:

It appears Mr. Karzai is working fast to make good on at least some his promises.  Late Sunday, his office issued a decree asking Afghanistan’s High Office of Oversight and Anti-corruption to prepare for a national conference within one month.  The conference will bring together Afghan government officials, analysts and members of Afghan civil societies to discuss how to combat government corruption.

However, the make-up of this conference does beg the question: How can you find effective ways to combat government corruption when you are inviting government officials to participate?  The conference’s findings should be interesting.

Mr. Karzai has made numerous pledges to tackle the issue, but the problem
has deteriorated since he first took office in early 2002.  Transparency International released a poll last week that showed Afghanistan is now perceived to be the second-most corrupt country in the world behind Somalia.

Also in his inaugural address, President Karzai reached out to militants without links to international terrorism to help in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. But following the tightly-guarded inauguration ceremony, it seemed the militants gave their response. Afghan officials said a suicide bomber in the south of the country killed 10 civilians and wounded 13 others.  A separate bombing also the same day killed two U.S. soldiers in eastern Zabul province.

There were several other attacks in the days that followed, including an assassination attempt on an influential member of parliament, a suicide bombing, roadside bombings and a rocket attack near the Serena Hotel in Kabul.

President Karzai said it is his goal to have Afghan forces take the lead for all security operations by the end of his new five-year term.  Judging by the continued violence, it may be a long five years.