Face to Face with Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai at the National Press Club in Washington, DC (Idler photo)

As far as some in Washington are concerned, Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, not George W. Bush, was the real star of the President's State of the Union Address. Charming, intelligent, and well-spoken, he looked, acted, and even dresssed like a winner. The Uzbek cape across his shoulders reminded some of a champion boxer, sitting in the corner of the ring.  It reminded this reporter of the famous portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Prior to his appearance at the prime-time Presidential event, Karzai had already taken Washington by storm, in a dizzying schedule of conferences and meetings with Afghan exiles, Congressional and Senate delegations, and the media, from a one-on-one with Jim Lehrer to facing the mob at the National Press Club on Tuesday afternoon.

The Idler was in attendance as Karzai spoke to a room packed with reporters, photographers and videographers from around the world.  To say security was tight would be an understatement.

The Secret Service searched every bag, checked every camera, Palm Pilot, and cell phone. Reporters were not only examined with electronic wands, they were frisked and patted down.  Others stood guard, surveying the crowd with penetrating stares. We were warned that once the room was filled, it would be considered sealed. No one who left would be permitted to return -- translation, forget about going to the bathroom.

Despite the restrictions, the atmosphere was jolly, almost a celebration. Journalists from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Greece were among those in the section where this reporter sat. It was almost a United Nations of Journalism.

As Karzai appearance neared, the room filled with almost electric anticipation.

For the journalists  in the room, especially those from developing nations, had much at stake in the struggle for a modern Afghanistan. They were sophisticated, educated, and travelled men and women of the world. Between the Taliban and Karzai, there was no question whose side the international reporters were on.

"He's really Greek," a Greek reporter declared proudly to those around him. "Karzai is a Greek name."

"It could be true," a Bengali added, "Alexander the Great came there." Indeed, the name of the town of Kandahar is based on "Alexander."

One exception to Karzai's warm welcome came from Michael Gordon, of the New York Times, who did not applaud. He also declined to introduce himself to a couple of Pakistani journalists sitting next to him, when they offered to shake hands. He told the Pakistanis that he could not tell them who he was, because he was attending the press conference "anonymously" (he had taken off his name tags). Although the Pakistanis were polite about the snub, it appeared to offend them, and seemed culturally insensitive to at least one observer. Earlier Gordon had been overheard loudly complaining that the practice of submitting written questions on notecards reminded him of the former Soviet Union -- although it is standard practice at every National Press Club luncheon.

(Despite his protests, Gordon turned in two written questions, his second submission on a card plucked from beneath the seat of a Bangladeshi journalist who happens to chair the international correspondents committee of the National Press Club. Gordon's victim seemed to notice what appeared to be a bit of petty thievery, but again, his good manners prevailed over the boorishness of the Timesman's action. After he had taken the card, Gordon was reminded, by another reporter, that the Press Club  provides additional question cards on request.)

In the event Gordon's hostile attitude towards the proceeding was an anomaly. The room otherwise seemed as warm as a sauna, waiting for the Afghan leader to appear. Minutes ticked by. Had something happened?

And then, an announcement from security: the excited reporters should sit down while Karzai made his entrance.

They did. Hushed silence followed.

Karzai swept into the room, ten minutes late.

He was greeted with warm applause upon entering, unusual at press conference, where reporters often tend to strike an "impartial" pose, if not adopt Gordon's hostility.

The Idler sat not ten feet from Karzai, as you may have guessed, next to Gordon.

Hamid Karzai is a man of medium height, of medium complexion, and of a medium girth. His face, while regular, would not stand out in a crowd.

And yet, although without his cape and cap he would look like a middle-aged college professor,  Karzai has great charisma, to use the Greek term.

He has that animal magnetism, that ability to persuade, to inspire confidence, to charm, that is a great godsend to a political leader. When he looks in your direction, you believe he really is looking at you, and connecting. Indeed, it is hard not to look at him when he is in the line of sight.

Karzai sat resplendent in his Afghan costume, confidently awaiting his introduction.

Yet when he spoke, he appeared quite modest. Perhaps it was because he removed his cape. And perhaps it was because of the modesty of his initial remarks.

This Afghan freedom fighter, who had at first embraced, then split from, then faced down the Taliban, who had seen his own father murdered, his country ravaged, his allies assassinated, told the reporters at the National Press Club that he had been afraid of them, and was relieved to find that he would only have to answer questions written on cards, instead of enduring a personal cross-examination, as he had done in Tokyo.

The reporters were delighted. Smiles and beaming everywhere. Karzai had the room in the palm of his hand. How endearing, how clever, how flattering, how charming, how modest -- and how intelligent he appeared.

So subtle was Karzai that he managed to criticize the American government, and the Bush administration, without anyone seeming to take notice. Far from being an American puppet, Karzai struck a pose of confident independence.

In his opening statement, while announcing that he was grateful for America's help,  Karzai declared that "we warned" America about the Taliban before September 11th -- but that no one listened to his warning. Among those who had ignored him, it went without saying, was President George W. Bush.

Karzai came out for a strong central government in Afghanistan, with a national army that could be used to crush the power of local warlords -- a policy that differs from the current publicly stated policy of the U.S. State department in favor of a "loose federation" of local governments.

When asked about an "exit strategy," the Afghan leader told  reporters that he would like to keep American forces "prisoner" in Afghanistan -- because the United States had abandoned his country in 1989, permitting its destruction by the Taliban.  He didn't labor this point,  either, but everyone in the room knew that in 1989 the President of the United States was George H.W. Bush -- father of the same George W., who had ignored his warnings before September 11th.

He pledged that he would be tough against corruption -- the same pledge that brought the Taliban to power in the first place. But unlike the Taliban, who betrayed the hopes of those who at first backed them, like Karzai himself, Karzai declared, "We will deliver."

He promised that he had the "vision thing," not a personal vision, but the Afghan vision. Karzai pointed out that most of the support for the Taliban came from people who were "not Afghans" -- namely (though he did not name them), the Arabs in general, the Saudis in particular, and Pakistan's ISI.

What does the future hold for Hamid Karzai? Is he merely a charmer in a nice suit, or is he tough enough to tame the toughest country in the world.

Well, from the way he handled the Washington Press Corps, he may very well be up to the job.

He announced that after a meeting of the Loya Jirga in five months, Afghanistan would hold elections "in two years time."

This should give Karzai breathing room to establish himself, despite his protestation that he would welcome retirement, and like DeGaulle after World War II, or Rudy Giuliani in New York City, rebuild Afghanistan in his own image: dashing, daring, and ferociously intelligent.

No wonder security was so tight.