Can Karzai Channel George Washington?
By Wahid Monawar and Pratik Chougule
August 14, 2010
In the past week alone, a Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry revealed
widespread corruption and incompetence in Afghanistan’s security operations.
Meanwhile, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, Ahmad Wali Karzai, persisted
in denials that he is involved with private armies and the drug trade despite
growing evidence to the contrary.
These developments highlight a problem that continues to plague Afghanistan:
the country’s moribund political class. While many accusations leveled against
the country’s leaders are overstated and politicized, self-serving actions by
Afghanistan’s elites are eroding confidence in the fledgling democracy. Poor
rural Afghans in particular, incensed at the country’s growing socioeconomic
divide, corruption, and poor security, are turning to the Taliban and warlords.
Despite the Obama Administration’s decision to commit more troops and funds to
an unpopular war, the absence of reliable Afghan partners is stretching the
international community’s patience.
Afghanistan’s political class should reverse the tide of growing
disillusionment by looking to the leadership of the Founding Fathers of the
United States. Facing many challenges similar to the ones confronting
Afghanistan today – weak institutions, factional interests, and uneven
international support, among others – the American Founders secured a new
republic by promoting and embodying the values of republicanism.
Historical comparisons are necessarily imperfect. It would be unfair either
to diminish the achievements of Afghanistan’s leaders in the midst of day-to-day
political struggles, or to glorify the wisdom of the Founders with the benefit
of hindsight. Since 2001, Afghan leaders have convened a peaceful Loya Jirga,
ratified the most progressive constitution in the region, and held a series of
inclusive elections. Few have made sacrifices in the War on Terrorism on par
with the government and security forces of Afghanistan. They have done so while
coping with the legacy of communist occupation, civil war, and Taliban
fundamentalism. It is easy to forget that the American Founders made their fair
share of mistakes. The Articles of Confederation proved ineffective. The new
republic’s armed forces and police were ill-equipped to deal with a variety of
international and domestic challenges. And issues such as slavery, federalism,
and popular enfranchisement bedeviled the country’s political class. Not
surprisingly, foreign powers openly doubted the durability of the American
government.
Yet the selfless values at the heart of the American founding are largely
missing among the Afghan elite. While the Founding Fathers were intensely
ambitious and decidedly uncomfortable with many attributes of modern democracy,
they were strong advocates of republican values. They believed that the
preservation of liberty required leaders to put civic duty ahead of their
personal interests. The country’s first president exemplified these ideals by
ceding power after two terms despite his widespread popularity. The election
fraud, financial graft, political cronyism, warlordism, and drug trafficking
that pervade the highest levels of the Afghan government, by contrast, are
symptoms of a political class too unwilling to sacrifice its personal well-being
for the nation.
Continued malfeasance by Afghanistan’s elites jeopardizes the fate of the
country’s future at a key juncture. It punctures the unity and resolve within
the Afghan government necessary to make and implement hard compromises. It
weakens faith in the national compact among disparate interests and factions. It
reduces confidence in Afghanistan’s institutions, driving many into the arms of
warlords and Taliban fighters. It emboldens the country’s unsavory neighbors
such as Pakistan’s ISI who would gladly reinstall a puppet regime in Kabul. And
it bolsters the claims of cynics abroad who question the feasibility and
worthiness of supporting Afghanistan’s democracy.
What would republican virtue look like in Afghanistan? For starters, the
Karzai Administration would make a serious effort to root out corruption within
his inner circle – even when his own family members are complicit. Afghan
politicians would implement and abide by term limits, cultivating a new
generation of leaders. Powerful figures across the country’s various ethnic and
religious factions would demonstrate their loyalty to the Afghan state and its
constitution over warlords, militias, and mafias. The Afghan government would
stand united against the malignant influence of foreign powers such as Pakistan.
And it would take concrete steps to ensure the United States-led coalition that
its commitments are appreciated and will not be squandered.
Ultimately, Afghanistan’s democracy will only survive if its political class
internalizes what John Adams recognized in 1776: “Public virtue cannot exist
without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.”
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