Corruption looms over inauguration

KABUL (AP) — Under intense pressure to fix his corrupt government, Afghan President Hamid Karzai sought to strike a balance in his second inaugural speech today: answer international demands for reform while appeasing his political allies who returned him to power.

Karzai begins a second term facing an increasingly violent insurgency, an administration crippled by corruption, high unemployment and an impoverished population frustrated by eight years of war and few, if any, improvements to their daily lives.

An official familiar with a draft of the speech said Karzai would not pepper his address with rhetoric criticizing the international community. Still, Karzai is likely to wag his finger at foreign donors, as he has done before, for allowing millions of dollars to be skimmed from aid contracts before Afghans ever see the assistance. The official, who requested anonymity to avoid upstaging the president, said Karzai would repeat his demand for assistance to be funneled through the Afghan government as opposed to international organizations.

Though Karzai was expected to address rampant graft and bribery that has corroded his government, his message is not likely to satisfy the international community, which is hinging future aid and troops on his resolve to clean up corruption. The Karzai government unveiled an anti-corruption and major-crimes unit this week just as Afghanistan slipped three places to become the world’s second-most corrupt country, according to an annual survey by Transparency International.

“They’ve done some work on that, but in our view, not nearly enough to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose to tackle corruption,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters Wednesday during her flight to Kabul.

“We are concerned about corruption, and we obviously think it has an impact on the quality and capacity of governing. So we’re going to be persistent, asking for the kinds of outcomes that we think reflect that they are serious about this. But I can’t predict what will or won’t happen at this point.”

On Sunday, Clinton linked additional civilian aid to better accountability on how the Afghans spend the money.

In his speech, Karzai also was expected to urge insurgents to lay down their weapons as well as share his vision of an Afghan security force that eventually can take over the defense of the nation, allowing foreign forces to leave, said a presidential confidante who also declined to be identified so as not to upstage the address.

The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.