A showcase of unity amid discord in Afghanistan

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A showcase of unity amid discord in Afghanistan

Afghan police examine cars at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, the day before an international conference.

A showcase of unity amid discord in Afghanistan
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times
July 20, 2010

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — A high-profile international conference Tuesday showcasing Western unity and purposefulness in Afghanistan offers a glimpse into rifts within the allied coalition and continuing tensions with the government of President Hamid Karzai.

The gathering here, bringing together dozens of top-level diplomats including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, comes at a time when many of the countries that have poured troops and money into Afghanistan for nearly a decade are questioning the war's overarching aims.

Despite the expected preponderance of upbeat statements, the one-day meeting highlights a longstanding source of friction between the government in Kabul and its Western patrons: whether foreign-aid funds are being frittered away and how much of the money earmarked for crucial assistance is siphoned off by corruption.

The Obama administration has chastised Karzai repeatedly for not cracking down on graft in his government — although such talks now tend to take place in private. Public scoldings of the Afghan leader earlier this year triggered an angry backlash whose effects are still being felt.

Leading Afghan officials believe the West needs to take greater responsibility for reining in crooked contractors and pay closer attention to Afghan opinions about foreign-inspired aid projects that sometimes are doomed from the start for cultural or logistical reasons.

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