'Brown Warns Afghan Leader On Corruption', The New York Times, 6 November 2009
EXCERPT: "In unusually harsh terms reflecting international frustration with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday that the government in Kabul would forfeit its right to international support against the Taliban insurgency if it failed to root out corruption. 'Sadly, the government of Afghanistan had become a byword for corruption,' Mr. Brown said in a speech to defense experts. 'And I am not prepared to put the lives of British men and women in harm's way for a government that does not stand up against corruption.' His words were regarded by some analysts as the toughest by a Western leader since Mr. Karzai was declared the winner earlier this week of Afghanistan's flawed elections amid accusations of malpractice at the ballot box and corruption in his government. The timing of Mr. Brown’s warning was particularly significant, with the Obama administration under domestic and international pressure to decide whether to commit up to 40,000 more American troops to Afghanistan at a time when international appetite for the conflict seems to be receding."
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See also:
'Ex-defence chiefs round on Brown', BBC News, 6 November 2009
'Factbox: Britain's five tests for Afghanistan's Karzai', Reuters, 6 November 2009
'Britain probes possible Taliban infiltration of Afghan police force', China View, 5 November 2009
'Taliban claim responsibility for killing five British troops in Afghanistan', The Guardian, 4 November 2009
Related posts:
'US gives Karzai six-month ultimatum to stem corruption', 3 November 2009
'Support for Afghan mission drops in UK, Canada
', 16 October 2009
'Combating corruption in Afghanistan', 1 October 2009
'Corruption undermines Afghan policing', 9 April 2009
'Pervasive corruption fuels deep anger', 25 November 2008
