Treat Karzai with respect, Mr. President

Karzai still stings, I’m told, from a formal dinner in 2008 when then-Sen. Joe Biden threw down his napkin, pushed back his chair and left the room. Relations with the Obama administration began badly when Karzai learned indirectly from a political rival whom the new U.S. ambassador would be, rather than from the secretary of state or sitting ambassador, as is customary. Perceived hostility from special envoy Richard Holbrooke has been a constant rub.

The corruption targeted by Obama, Holbrooke and others isn’t in dispute. Voter fraud can’t be tolerated. But Karzai’s problems are systemic rather than personal. Whether Karzai deserves our respect is secondary to whether we need him to be effective as president of his country. Given the circumstances, wouldn’t it be wiser to support Karzai rather than further cause him to feel impotent?

Obama’s recent meeting, off the record and away from cameras, may have helped as a gesture of cooperation. But reports from inside Afghanistan via my own sources are that Karzai felt lectured to. We all know the feeling.