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Analysis: Karzai visits amid controversy

By ROLAND FLAMINI, Chief International Correspondent

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- A year ago, Afghanistan was the success story of the Bush administration's fight against Islamic terrorism and President Hamid Karzai was its poster boy. But Karzai's visit to Washington Monday was somewhat tinged by controversies over Afghan prisoner abuse by U.S. troops and criticism that Karzai was dragging his feet on destroying Afghanistan's narcotics-producing poppy crops.

There is also unease in Kabul that the United States, burdened by its continuing military and financial commitments in Iraq, plans to reduce its armed forces and its overall support from Afghanistan, leaving an increase of NATO forces from other member countries to take over regional responsibilities.

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It was to address this concern that President Bush and Karzai signed a memorandum of understanding Monday on a strategic partnership that commits Washington to support the development of a democratic Afghanistan, to provide economic aid for its reconstruction, help Kabul to develop a market economy and train a new Afghan army and police. Even so, the cautiously worded commitment to come to Afghanistan's aid in the case of an outside threat can hardly be seen as a promise to spring into immediate action. It says the United States will "consult with respect to taking appropriate measures in the event that Afghanistan perceives that its territorial integrity, independence, or security is threatened or at risk."

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In their remarks to journalists after their meeting both leaders had warm words for each other, but Karzai appeared to have made little headway in his bid for a measure of control over U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and with his request to take over all Afghan detainees held by the United States on suspicion of having ties to either al-Qaida or the fundamentalist Taliban regime. "Our (military) relationship is one of cooperate and consult," Bush told reporters. But there was an air of finality about his statement that, "Of course, our troops will respond to U.S. commanders."

As for handing over Afghan prisoners, both in Afghanistan itself and in the U.S. detention facility for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo, "Part of the issue is to make sure there is a place where the prisoners can be held," Bush said.

The issue became a pressing one for Karzai after fresh revelations (in the New York Times) of prisoner torture in 2002 by U.S. troops at Bagram Air Base, the main American military facility in the country, and the apparently consequent deaths of two Afghan detainees. Karzai, who was Washington's choice for president (but went on to win the presidential election) and faces criticism from the opposition that he is America's puppet, expressed public anger at the report, which he said he was hearing in detail for the first time. Seven soldiers have been charged in connection with the two deaths, but Karzai said before leaving Kabul, "We want the United States to take very, very strong action to take away people like that who are working in the (U.S.) armed forces in Afghanistan."

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The other difference was over the fight against narcotics. The day after Karzai's outburst against the torture of prisoners a memo leaked to the New York Times had U.S. diplomats in Kabul complaining to Washington that the Afghan president had "been unwilling to assert strong leadership" in the drive to destroy the country's huge poppy crops and combat the production and trafficking of heroin and other narcotics, which has reached record highs. At the White House Karzai was on the defensive about the narcotics situation. "There is too much poppy cultivation in Afghanistan ... and we have got to work together to eradicate the poppy crop," he said.

He claimed that what he called "the curse of poppies in Afghanistan" had been reduced by between 20 and 30 percent this year. "If this trend continues, we'll have no poppies, hopefully, in Afghanistan in another five or six years," he added.

But observers regard this as a hugely optimistic assessment. Since the expulsion of the Taliban, opium production has risen rapidly in Afghanistan and by most reliable estimates now totals around 5,400 tons a year. The U.S. has earmarked $780 million to fund a joint U.S.-Afghan offensive against narcotics. On Monday, President Bush mentioned pomegranates and honeydew melons as alternative cash crops for Afghan poppy farmers. But the illicit sale of narcotics brings in billions, accounting for 40 to 60 percent of the Afghan gross domestic product, according to a recent U.S. report -- which equals a lot of pomegranates.

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The reality, observers say, is that Karzai simply doesn't have either the political or military muscle to confront the tribal chiefs and warlords who control the narcotics traffic.

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