Mr Obama's War: Karzai Seizes The Opening on Afghanistan

A few hours ago, we noted the distortion by The New York Times of Friday's interview with President Obama into the misleading headline, “Obama Ponders Outreach to Elements of the Taliban”.

That was enough for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, however. Facing domestic political pressure, and having conceded that the Presidential election will take place in August rather than April, Karzai seized on the Times presentation to advance his own agenda:

Yesterday, Mr. Obama accepted and approved the path of peace and talks with those Afghan Taliban who he called moderates. This is a good news ... this is approval of our previous stance and we accept and praise it.

While Karzai has long advocated this approach, his immediate enthusiasm speaks more to his relationship with Washington. It will be far more difficult for the Americans to dislodge Karzai, either at the ballot box or through a political coup, if they are presented as supporters of his negotiating strategy.

Watch carefully on Monday for the Obama Administration's reaction to both the New York Times spin and Karzai's ploy.