One of the most famous political figures in Afghanistan is, of course, Hamid Karzai. This man became famous for becoming the first freely elected president in the history of his country. Hamid Karzai, whose political views are criticized by many contemporaries, in spite of everything, has always remained a sincere patriot of his country.
Who is Karzai
It is known that Afghanistan has experienced many military conflicts, interventions and incursions into its territory. Hamid Karzai, whose photo will be presented in our article, in his youth he himself took part in the war, defending the territory of Afghanistan.
Having received this bitter military experience and never forgetting about it, all the time, holding the presidency, he tried to prevent a second war and protect the sovereignty of his state in any possible way. He calls himself a convinced pacifist and believes that no question can betruly resolved by military force.
Hamid Karzai: who by nation, brief biography
This man is a native Afghan, he was born on this land and belonged to the noble and ancient Pashtun family Popolzay. Hamid Karzai, whose date of birth is December 24, 1957, was born in the small Afghan province of Kandahar. He grew up in the small village of Kurtz, but at the same time from childhood he had an idea of all the political processes that took place in his country.
Karzai's father, Abdul Karzai, owes this knowledge and early understanding of politics to Karzai. This man was a member of the Afghan parliament and provided all possible support to the current king at that time. For some time in parliament, he even served as vice speaker. In addition, Karzai's father was the head of a fairly influential Crawl clan, which had a significant impact on the country's politics. Many believe that Hamid's political views were largely due to the influence of his father.
Education Received
Karzai Hamid went to first grade in Kandahar. A little later, the boy's family was forced to change their place of residence and move to Kabul. It was there that he graduated from Habibia High School. Those who knew him during his school years recall that the boy studied quite successfully. He showed great interest in the Darwinian theory of evolution. He loved literature and preferred the works of Dickens, Chekhov and Dostoevsky. But it was easiest for the student to givenatural sciences, especially chemistry, which he was very fond of. Thanks to his irrepressible thirst for reading and knowledge, the young man learned 5 languages, including he is fluent in French and English. Over time, assessing his political activities, Karzai will be called the most educated Afghan leader.
After graduating from school, Hamid Karzai, whose biography will be discussed in detail in this article, decided to continue his studies and get a higher education. For admission, he chose the Indian University of Himachal, which was located in Simla. Being under the influence of his father, on the one hand, and proceeding from his own interests, already formed by that time, on the other hand, Hamid wanted to study political science. He also completed his studies at the university very successfully and received a master's degree in political science.
Participation in the Soviet-Afghan war
After graduating from the institute, Hamid lived in Pakistan, and it was there that he was caught by the news about the beginning of the Soviet-Afghan war. The young politician began to provide financial assistance to the Mujahideen and arranged for them to supply weapons. It is said that it was then that he acquired connections with the American government and British intelligence. In addition to material assistance, Hamid took a direct part in the defense of the territory of his country. Returning to Afghanistan, he commanded guerrilla units.
Taliban related stories
After the Soviet troops left Afghanistan, Karzai became a member of the moderate wing of the Afghan resistance. For a long time he was withmembers of the Taliban are on good terms, as he believed that only they could bring order to Afghan soil.
Members of the Taliban also showed loy alty and once, having captured Kabul, they even offered him to become their representative in the UN. Hamid refused such an offer, and with the advent of Osama bin Laden, his attitude towards the organization cooled sharply. Hamid Karzai realized that as long as this organization existed, there would be no end to the civil war in his land.
Popular recognition and official rise to power
In 2001, Karzai personally participated in the operation carried out by the Americans to liberate Kandahar from the Taliban. In 2002, the UN, considering the Afghan issue, decided to create an interim government, and Hamid was offered to head it. This offer was accepted by him.
Afghan statesman Hamid Karzai officially took charge of the country in 2004. During the first free presidential elections in the history of the state, the people, tired of constant conflicts and civil war, cast 55% of their votes for this man.
Assessment of his political activities is very ambiguous. His supporters say that during Karzai's rule, Afghanistan did succeed in developing education and rebuilding the economy. Opponents argue that these achievements are not solely the result of the efforts of one president. Many political analysts say thatin fact, Karzai Hamid had power exclusively in Kabul. Outside of this city, he actually did not possess it.
Despite differing opinions, when assessing Karzai's work, one cannot discount the difficult situation in Afghanistan. This man tried to improve the situation in his country as much as possible, and also based on the resources that he possessed. During his reign, Afghanistan really became more democratic. For example, Karzai for the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan introduced several women into the state government, which was previously nonsense for this country.
Political strategy
Given the way in which the political career of this figure developed, many accused him of being dependent on the American government. Most opponents often reproached Karzai for the fact that, before becoming the popularly elected president, he was declared and appointed head of the transitional government by a special UN conference that decided the fate of Afghanistan in 2001.
Political analysts are more inclined to believe that Karzai, understanding the complexity of the situation in Afghanistan, was simply looking for any ways to solve the problems of his country. For example, in 2002, speaking in Tokyo at a conference dedicated to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, he managed to secure $4 billion for his country.
For the sake of justice, it should be noted that, having become the head of state, Hamid did not allow himself to introduceline of full support for the policy of Western countries. The same applied to the United States, which deployed its troops in the territory of Karzai's country. Largely due to such domestic policies, Hamid Karzai enjoyed the support of the ordinary population, whose fears about the coming to power of a "pro-American" candidate remained in vain.
He showed his sincere patriotism in 2008 when he began to openly criticize the military antiterrorist operations carried out by the Americans on Afghan territory. Karzai Hamid has repeatedly made statements that it is time to stop the civilian casu alties that occur each time as a result of American "peacekeeping" operations.
Re-elections
In 2009, new elections were held in Afghanistan. Karzai Hamid was re-elected President and on November 19, 2009, he was sworn in again. The elections were accompanied by various intrigues, gossip and scandals. After the first round, Karzai was accused of fraud. His main competitor - Abdullah Abdullah - refused to participate in the second round, since this idea was considered losing in advance. There was a lot of talk that Karzai Hamid would win anyway, because the Americans would help him in this at any cost.
A year later, in 2010, a situation occurred that once again made many doubt Karzai's "unconditional obedience to America". The New York Times published a resonant report that the President of Afghanistan received a huge amount of funding from the Iranian government. Karzai Hamid did not deny thisfact and said that he was happy to accept and would accept money for the development of his country from all "friendly countries", from America to Iran.
President's departure
In 2014, this man voluntarily resigned after holding the presidency for about 12 years. Many attribute this to the fact that Karzai understood better than anyone else the hopelessness of Afghanistan. The economy of this country has been undermined by years of civil wars, the majority of the population lives on the verge of beggary, and being left without US funding for this country could mean collapse. But everyone around understands that "friendly material assistance" is just a "payment" by the United States for the deployment of its military bases in Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai made it clear that the issue with the Taliban remained unresolved, the US failed to restore the promised order, but at the same time they are not going to leave the Afghan territories. Not wanting to take on any more responsibility for cooperation with the United States and at the same time not daring to interrupt it, Hamid Karzai chose to resign with dignity.
