UN Official claims Karzai is a druggie

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been making a number of speeches recently that are highly critical of the US’s presence in Afghanistan. Observers have a attributed this to a number of causes, such as frustration, exhaustion, depression, and the need to look tough at home. These are all plausible, if disheartening, arguments. The best one of the lot, however comes from the former deputy of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith. In an interview on MSNBC yesterday, Galbraith said hypothesized that Karzi’s addiction to heroin or opium (it is not clear which) is the cause of his recent anti-US tirades. Seriously. It comes about two minutes into the interview.

It is important to put the comment in context, however. Karzai basically kicked Galbraith out of Afghanistan because he accused Karzai of stealing last year’s presidential election.