Former Secretary of State Robert Gates’ memoir My Duty highlights actions the Obama administration undertook to try to defeat Hamid Karzai during his 2009 re-election bid.
Hot Air published excerpts of the book, describing “a fascinating account of a failed administration attempt to ensure that Karzi was defeated in the 2009 Afghan elections.”
Gates described it as “a clumsy and failed putsch.”
The attempt was framed around Obama special envoy Richard Holbrooke and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, both of whom “tried to boost the fortunes of Karzai’s political opponents.” However, Karzai won, and that put the U.S. into an even worse situation.
According to Afghan expert Steven Biddle at the Council of Foreign Relations, “there has been growing disaffection with the U.S. ever since. The result was the worst of both worlds–Karzai was reelected and now we looked like we’d tried to get him and failed.”
Karzai has responded to the revelations by releasing “dozens of prisoners accused of having American blood on their hands.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRhawkins.
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