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Karzai takes risk by embracing warlords©Los Angeles TimesJune 20, 2002 KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hamid Karzai adopted a risky political strategy Wednesday with the Afghan leader's decision to include several warlords in his inner circle and retain several key ethnic Tajiks in top government posts. Karzai was inaugurated as the nation's transitional president Wednesday and the nine-day grand council, or loya jirga, drew to a close. The Cabinet was approved by a show of hands among the more than 1,500 delegates at the loya jirga, but many seemed more resigned than genuinely pleased with his choices. "We are satisfied but not very much," said Mohammed Hakim, an ethnic Pashtun from the southeastern region around the city of Gardez. "The nation has not been given the right to select the Cabinet, particularly the key ministries." The Pashtuns, the largest of the nation's many ethnic groups, have felt shortchanged in the power structure Karzai has put in place. Although Karzai is a Pashtun, his initial government was dominated by ethnic Tajiks from the Northern Alliance, the army that helped defeat the Taliban. Karzai could not afford to alienate them in part because they still control significant parts of the country. On Wednesday, Karzai retained Mohammed Qassim Fahim, a former Northern Alliance commander, as defense minister and Abdullah, a longtime Northern Alliance spokesman who goes by one name, as foreign minister. Karzai also brought Fahim into his inner circle as one of three vice presidents. The other two also are prominent commanders: Haji Abdul Qadir, the Pashtun governor of Jalalabad province, and Karim Khalili, an ethnic Hazara commander. The risk for Karzai is that the warlords, rather than turning away from regional concerns, will use their influence to horde jobs for their friends and perpetuate a system that relies on guns and money to exercise power.
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