Karzai opponent says corruption a bigger threat to Afghanistan than Taliban

Former Afghan foreign minister and 2009 presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah told an April 21 Newsmaker audience that military success against the Taliban will mean little if Afghanistan's corrupt government cannot win over its own people.

Abdullah, chairman of the Afghan Coalition for Hope and Change, also met with Department of State officials and members of Congress during his visit.

The opthamologist-turned-politician said that even though he could not get meetings with higher-ranking officials, he "deemed it necessary to come to Washington to express my views." He said the American government has "heard from the (Afghan) government. It should (also) hear from people representing other voices."

Abdullah, who dropped out of the 2009 presidential election runoff claiming it was rigged, said Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been "recognized as the president of Afghanistan despite what happened in the elections. You have to deal with it. You are dealing with a difficult partner, (but) the mission is much more than making one person happy."

He said Karzai suffers from "incompetence (and) lack of political will" and that "there is a growing gap between the people and the government."

Abdullah said that the influence of Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who operates from Kandahar province, undermines Afghans' faith in their government.

Ahmed Karzai is said to exercise unchallenged power and to have connections with insurgents and drug dealers. If that situation is not addressed, Abdullah said, and remains the main source of people's grievances, "it will not yield the results we are expecting...that is the way to failure."