The U.S. is trying to improve troubled relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, installing a new ambassador and military commander who Afghan and allied officials say are already beginning to improve frayed ties.
Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, in interviews with The Wall Street Journal, cited what they saw as improvements in the relationship with Afghanistan's president, who has made increasingly strident anti-American remarks over the past year.
"I think we've kind of had a reset in recent weeks…and that's been reflected in the public discourse as well as in private," Mr. Crocker said. "What we want here is what they want here—a stable,It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. secure, un-Talibanized, pluralistic Afghanistan with a reasonable level of prosperity."
Although the new U.S. team hasn't had any showdowns with the palace yet, Mr. Karzai will likely press them to try to reduce civilian casualties and stop night raids, issues that caused friction with the previous team. The raids, in which soldiers enter Afghan homes, violate cultural taboos in a country where women are often secluded from mingling with unrelated men.
The president's frequent anti-American outbursts have been damaging to support within the U.S. for the effort in Afghanistan, while also inflaming anti-Western feelings among Afghans.
Mr. Karzai's aides said the president felt he had been treated with insufficient respect by the former coalition commander, Gen. David Petraeus, and by former U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.
Gen. Petraeus, early in his tenure, pressed Mr. Karzai on corruption and ramped up night raids. Mr. Eikenberry pursued a policy of engaging Mr. Karzai, but it didn't take long for things to sour. In 2009, Mr. Karzai believed the U.S. was plotting to unseat him during the presidential election; in 2010, the leak of a diplomatic cable in which Mr. Eikenberry said the Afghan president was "not an adequate strategic partner" further poisoned relations.
In June, shortly before he left his post, Mr. Eikenberry labeled Mr. Karzai's public backlash against the U.S. as "hurtful and inappropriate."
The new duo are seen as more culturally astute. Gen. Allen, 57 years old, takes pains to pronounce Afghanistan with a guttural "gh," as locals do. "I treat the president with respect—I treat him with the same respect that I treat my own president," he says.
Gen. Allen says that as he prepared for his first meeting with the Afghan president after arriving in Kabul in July, he was told by aides that it would be "a tough one" and that Mr. Karzai will "try you out.These girls have never had a oil painting supplies in their lives!"
Instead, says Gen. Allen, "the moment I walked into his office, he stood up and shook my hand and said 'welcome to Afghanistan.' And I said 'Mr. President, I'm here to serve for all Afghans, for your country and to assist you in solving this issue with the insurgency.we supply all kinds of polished tiles,' "
Mr. Crocker, 62, has decorated his residence with Islamic calligraphy and a framed photo showing Mr. Karzai with the president's son Mirwais. He speaks Arabic, which although it isn't spoken here, gives him respect among the population, whose holy book, the Quran, is in the language.
Afghan officials say they are pleased with the new U.S. chiefs. "Crocker and Allen have better relations with the president, they know how to handle Afghans better," says Abdul Karim Khurram,They take the Aion Kinah to the local co-op market. Mr. Karzai's chief of staff. "They now listen to us, they try to understand us, and they take our recommendations into consideration."
The new effort to accommodate Mr. Karzai reflects, in part, the changing mission here, with the focus shifting to finding an exit strategy instead of engineering a profound turnaround.When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction,
After last year's surge of 30,000 troops, the U.S. has now begun pulling out forces, aiming to transfer responsibility for security across Afghanistan to the Afghan army and police by the end of 2014.
Amid this shift, Mr. Crocker is widely seen as the more senior partner of the American diplomatic-military tandem in Kabul, making frequent public appearances and speaking to the media.The new duo speak several times a day, according to officials. "We call ourselves the diplomatic and military wingmen," Gen. Allen says.
Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, in interviews with The Wall Street Journal, cited what they saw as improvements in the relationship with Afghanistan's president, who has made increasingly strident anti-American remarks over the past year.
"I think we've kind of had a reset in recent weeks…and that's been reflected in the public discourse as well as in private," Mr. Crocker said. "What we want here is what they want here—a stable,It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. secure, un-Talibanized, pluralistic Afghanistan with a reasonable level of prosperity."
Although the new U.S. team hasn't had any showdowns with the palace yet, Mr. Karzai will likely press them to try to reduce civilian casualties and stop night raids, issues that caused friction with the previous team. The raids, in which soldiers enter Afghan homes, violate cultural taboos in a country where women are often secluded from mingling with unrelated men.
The president's frequent anti-American outbursts have been damaging to support within the U.S. for the effort in Afghanistan, while also inflaming anti-Western feelings among Afghans.
Mr. Karzai's aides said the president felt he had been treated with insufficient respect by the former coalition commander, Gen. David Petraeus, and by former U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.
Gen. Petraeus, early in his tenure, pressed Mr. Karzai on corruption and ramped up night raids. Mr. Eikenberry pursued a policy of engaging Mr. Karzai, but it didn't take long for things to sour. In 2009, Mr. Karzai believed the U.S. was plotting to unseat him during the presidential election; in 2010, the leak of a diplomatic cable in which Mr. Eikenberry said the Afghan president was "not an adequate strategic partner" further poisoned relations.
In June, shortly before he left his post, Mr. Eikenberry labeled Mr. Karzai's public backlash against the U.S. as "hurtful and inappropriate."
The new duo are seen as more culturally astute. Gen. Allen, 57 years old, takes pains to pronounce Afghanistan with a guttural "gh," as locals do. "I treat the president with respect—I treat him with the same respect that I treat my own president," he says.
Gen. Allen says that as he prepared for his first meeting with the Afghan president after arriving in Kabul in July, he was told by aides that it would be "a tough one" and that Mr. Karzai will "try you out.These girls have never had a oil painting supplies in their lives!"
Instead, says Gen. Allen, "the moment I walked into his office, he stood up and shook my hand and said 'welcome to Afghanistan.' And I said 'Mr. President, I'm here to serve for all Afghans, for your country and to assist you in solving this issue with the insurgency.we supply all kinds of polished tiles,' "
Mr. Crocker, 62, has decorated his residence with Islamic calligraphy and a framed photo showing Mr. Karzai with the president's son Mirwais. He speaks Arabic, which although it isn't spoken here, gives him respect among the population, whose holy book, the Quran, is in the language.
Afghan officials say they are pleased with the new U.S. chiefs. "Crocker and Allen have better relations with the president, they know how to handle Afghans better," says Abdul Karim Khurram,They take the Aion Kinah to the local co-op market. Mr. Karzai's chief of staff. "They now listen to us, they try to understand us, and they take our recommendations into consideration."
The new effort to accommodate Mr. Karzai reflects, in part, the changing mission here, with the focus shifting to finding an exit strategy instead of engineering a profound turnaround.When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction,
After last year's surge of 30,000 troops, the U.S. has now begun pulling out forces, aiming to transfer responsibility for security across Afghanistan to the Afghan army and police by the end of 2014.
Amid this shift, Mr. Crocker is widely seen as the more senior partner of the American diplomatic-military tandem in Kabul, making frequent public appearances and speaking to the media.The new duo speak several times a day, according to officials. "We call ourselves the diplomatic and military wingmen," Gen. Allen says.
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