With Pakistani officials claiming they've killed 200 Taliban militants as this morning's Meet The Press was airing, it's safe to say that the meetings President Obama had with Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai were productive at the least. The Obama Administration performed damage control for the Afghans and offered incentives for damage against the Taliban for the Pakistanis. The respective heads of state said agreed when agreements were needed and declared when declarations were called for. Once again, this column's praise goes to MTP Executive Producer, Betsy Fischer, for securing exclusive interviews with the two middle east heads of state. Despite that, the Program of Record faces a ratings challenge and it is directly tied to the moderator David Gregory [see appendix article]. The two respective pre-recorded interviews give an indication as to the reason's why his reception by the public is muddled.
Before we get to that, one of the analyst on the program today - NBC's Andrea Mitchell - summed it up best. "Afghanistan and Pakistan don't realize how weak their governments are." That's what you have to continually keep in mind when reviewing what they said. The New Yorker's Steve Coll (today's other guest journalist) buttressed that observing that the two leaders are very good analysts of the crises in their respective countries, but have no strategy as to how they will combat extremist forces and stabilize democratic government control, especially in Pakistan. These two leaders talked a game but we can't say it was good or bad, because they were both talking the wrong one. They should be talking proactively (strategy) and not passively (analyzing after the fact).
When Mr. Gregory asked the Pakistani President about a strategy to combat the Taliban he explained that he is lobbying Washington, trying to bolster support for the spread Democracy in the country. That's not reassuring in the slightest and what we have observed over the week and again on today's program is that when President Zardari says, for example, 'the nuclear arsenal is very secure,' our reason for concern doesn't drop below the red level. He was surprising forthright about the fact that there is a war in Pakistan with the Taliban, citing 135K troops in the mountains, and you could see the conflict over the weekend coming over the pass. Well, there's your strategy - shot them. However, the President then explained that there are military decisions outside of the parliament.
[At this point, here is an example of how Mr. Gregory 'turns people off' because his questions are asked in an effort to make a headline more often than say to explore the topic deeper and get a better understanding for all of us. It's a quality that subconsciously doesn't instill confidence, conversely illustrating petulance, hence the trust between moderator and audience brakes down. ]
Mr. Gregory asked if the military controlled the country since they control the nuclear weapons. It's a frivolous question in fact. The head politician in any country is never going to admit that anyone else except him or herself is in charge of the country. Also, if asked if your country is on the verge of collapse, the answer is also 'no' obviously but this is more nuanced. If it is an absolute emphatic 'NO,' like the one President Zardari gave today, that means trouble. A more reasoned 'no' suggests fragility, but extreme effort to make that disaster come to fruition... if you get our meaning. One of the counterpoints to this something that both men relied on today when faced with a tougher question - the excuse that it is not a decision the president makes, it a parliamentary one is a sure sign of an ultimately weak leader. He disagrees with his parliament with regard to negotiating with the Taliban, but the parliament approved it so they did and now they are into a military phase - no one direction forward.
President Karzai of Afghanistan doesn't have many strategies either to improve his country, but when he comes to Washington, he inevitably collects about 10 kilos in apologies from the U.S. Government. This time because the U.S. Military conducted airstrikes that killed close to 100 civilians. Not our first time, not our last either. With that said and with the elephant of charity in the room, President Karzai can only cite small isolated successes (roads in Kabul) but offers little when it comes to macro issues such as 60% of Afghanistan's GDP is poppy cultivation and exportation. What the United States could do to stem the production of 90% of the world's heroin is set up a governmental contract to buy the poppies from Afghanistan. Most, if not all, of the processed poppy the U.S. buys for pharmaceuticals is grown in Turkey. Give some of those contracts to the Afghans because It's easier to work an alternative trade deal with Turkey to supplement the lost revenue. Why shouldn't Mr. Karzai lobby for that?
And his true influence over the direction of his parliament and hence his country is the issue of the law recently passed in Afghanistan that permitted men to rape their wives. Mr. Karzai signed this into law and then had some international explaining to do. When Mr. Gregory asked how he was correcting the law, the President deferred to the fact that it is a parliamentary decision and that he consulted with various officials concluding that there are some elements of the law that need to be examined. Here is another point where Mr. Gregory went for the reiteration of an answer instead of probing deeper. Who specifically did Mr. Karzai consult with... his Minister of Health? Who? What specific aspects need to be amended? Specifics of what he disagreed with that he didn't see before when he signed it into law. Instead Mr. Gregory throws out a declarative summation - so rape is against the law in Afghanistan. "Absolutely, like hell!" Mr. Karzai belted.
He got the sound bite.
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