PRESIDENT Karzai of Afghanistan has an unenviable task in ruling his lawless country but he does not make things easy for himself. With the prospect of the US and NATO withdrawal in 2014 drawing closer he is naturally trying to mend fences within Afghanistan and with his neighbours while at the same time ensuring a continuation of US support of various kinds, but with varying success.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Pakistan last week discussing the delicate state of US-Pakistan relations and the problem of Taliban and other militant groups which are permitted to use bases in Pakistan to attack the Afghanistan capital Kabul and other towns. President Karzai followed Ms Clinton to Pakistan and gave an interview to that country's biggest satellite TV station in the course of which he said: If ever there is a war between Pakistan and the United States, we will stand with our brother country Pakistan, placing his hand on his heart as he spoke those words. Although Karzai has a reputation for loose comments and poorly expressed ideas this latest instance caused dismay among Western representatives in Kabul. Perhaps it was intended only to curry favour in Pakistan but it showed a poor understanding of the sensitivity of American public opinion over the immense US commitment to Afghanistan and underlined once again the unreliability of President Karzai as an ally.
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