A Change of Hats

Hamid Karzai refused to deal with the US as desired, so it was time for him to go. Democratically, of course.  I'll miss his hat.  But, the new one is pretty good, too.

Afghanistan has inaugurated its first new president in a decade, swearing in Ashraf Ghani to head a power-sharing government. Joining him on stage Monday was Abdul Rashid Dostum, Afghanistan’s new vice president. Dostum is one of Afghanistan’s most notorious warlords, once described by Ghani himself as a "known killer." Dostum’s rise to the vice presidency comes despite his involvement in a 2001 massacre that killed up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners of war. The victims were allegedly shot to death or suffocated in sealed metal truck containers after they surrendered to Dostum and the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance. The dead prisoners — some of whom had been tortured — were then buried in the northern Afghan desert. Dostum, who was on the CIA payroll, has been widely accused of orchestrating the massacre and tampering with evidence of the mass killing. For more than a decade, human rights groups have called on the United States to conduct a full investigation into the massacre including the role of U.S. special forces and CIA operatives.

  Democracy Now!

And they’ll keep calling. But they won’t get an answer.

Ghani, who was an American citizen working for the World Bank before renouncing and grooming to run for president in Afghanistan, has promised to restore good dealings.  Dostum, on the other hand, has reason to keep dealing.  "Was" on the CIA payroll?

Also...

Mr. Ghani is taking office under a cloud, dogged by electoral fraud allegations.

[...]

Mr. Ghani was pressured to accept a power-sharing arrangement with [his opponent] Mr. Abdullah [appointed as chief executive officer, sharing the inaugural stage].

Further, that deal very nearly collapsed at the last minute, as Mr.Abdullah threatened on Sunday to pull out of the inauguration ceremony over a series of disputes, including an unseemly fight over office space in the presidential palace. Mr. Abdullah’s followers squabbled with supporters of Mr. Ghani’s first vice president, the influential but controversial power broker Abdul Rashid Dostum, over offices that Mr. Abdullah had expected to get.

[...]

[Afghanistan] is ravaged by violence, sick with corruption, and seething with frustration. The government is struggling against a Taliban insurgency that has turned much of the country into a no-go zone.

[...]

Afghanistan has been the biggest source of asylum seekers year after year, although in the last year it was surpassed by Syria.

The recent presence of many of Mr. Dostum’s followers on the streets of Kabul, in civilian clothes or unofficial uniforms and heavily armed, has been a cause of concern to many residents of the capital. It is technically illegal for anyone other than government security forces to publicly carry weapons, but the police have been reluctant to challenge the gunmen.

  NYT

Off to a great start.