Dowd on the Real Washington

Here is a bit from a NY Times op-ed by Maureen Dowd that makes it clear just how Washington lies while pretending it doesn't:

Everybody here lies.

But with the arrival of Hamid Karzai, the mendacity blossomed into absurdity.

The question for the Obama White House is not whether it can grow to appreciate the caped capo who runs Afghanistan. (President Obama can’t stand him.) The question is whether Karzai will fall for all the guff they’re throwing at him.

Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and Gen. Stanley McChrystal were paraded into the White House press room to pretend as though their dispute about the efficacy of the surge, given Karzai’s serious flaws as a partner, has been put to rest. (It hasn’t.)

The administration crooned a reassuring lullaby to the colicky Karzai: that it has a long-term commitment in Afghanistan (it doesn’t) and an endgame there (it doesn’t) and that it knows that the upcoming Kandahar offensive will work (it doesn’t).

Asked by a reporter about the change from sticks to carrots, Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan who has had contentious sessions with Karzai, replied: “No, I certainly don’t think it’s changed.” (It has.)

For their part, the Afghans promise to work on stemming corruption and stopping the poppy trade. (They won’t.)

So Hamid Karzai is the latest in a long line of petty dictators that the US has "installed" to govern a country. In the good old days of JFK, they would have assassinated him and replaced him with a more pliable puppet. The tragedy is that the US and NATO nations are throwing away blood and treasure on this corrupt dictator (who fakes elections but stuffs the ballot box to "win"). You would think that after 65 years of post-WWII tragedies caused by this "technique" the US would give up trying to rule by proxy and let other nations select their own rulers.

Despite what they tell you in Washington, he's Dowd's take on the truth:

The Taliban in Pakistan is training jihadis to attack New York, belying again W.’s chuckleheaded contention that we have to wage war against terrorists abroad so we don’t have to face them at home. Our battles meant to diminish enemies replenish them. The inept Times Square bomber was infuriated by U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan.