No U.S. Interference in Afghan Elections ... Except James Carville and the U.S. Occupation

Posted by Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports at 9:45 AM on August 20, 2009.

[On Monday], Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just released a statement on the Afghan elections, which will be held [today]. Key section:

"The United States of America remains impartial in this election. We do not support or oppose any particular candidate. Like the Afghan people we want to see credible, secure and inclusive elections that all will judge legitimate. We hope that, from top to bottom, every effort will be taken to make election day secure, to eliminate fraud, and to address any complaints fairly and quickly."

Hmm. Well, let’s see. How is it not just a wee bit of interference to have James Carville, one of the Clintons’ top consiglieri, acting as a campaign advisor to one of the leading candidates? Carville, who says he is working as a “private citizen” for candidate Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank official, was an advisor to Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election and has deep ties to Obama’s current Afghanistan/Pakistan envoy Richard Holbrooke. Ghani and former Unocal executive turned U.S.-puppet, Hamid Karzai, would both be acceptable to Washington, but Carville’s involvement certainly raises some questions. Carville, according to NPR, "won't say whether he's being paid to advise Ghani."

Hamid Karzai's office has offered some fairly muted criticism of this arrangement. "Let's leave the decision to the Afghan people if it is better to have the advice of Afghans without the interference from the foreigners or to have foreigners advising us?" said Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai’s spokesperson.

For his part, Karzai has little leg to stand on in criticizing anyone over their use of U.S. advisors. His entire claim to power is based on U.S. dictates, instructions and approval from Washington -- oh, and his personal safety as well. Not to mention 48,000 U.S. troops and 70,000 private contractors on the U.S. government payroll. And remember, Karzai reportedly held talks recently with neocon all-star Zalmay Khalilzad, his old buddy from Unocal, about Khalilzad becoming the CEO of Afghanistan (literally). After the NY Times reported the story, Karzai tried to re-spin his intentions.

So, maybe this election is in part like the Bush candidate vs. the Clinton candidate. In any case, still seems like the U.S. is calling the shots, not the Afghan people.

Tagged as: afghanistan, hillary clinton, hamid karzai, richard holbrooke, james carville, ashraf ghani, afghan election, humayun hamidzada

Jeremy Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.