Rep. Ed Royce (CA) has been guest blogging for the conservative blog, Red County, for months now. With Red County's recent redesign, Royce was given the opportunity to host his own, permanant guest blog on the site. Last week, "Foreign Intrigue" debuted and can be seen on the front page of this up and coming blog site. Here is an excerpt of the Congressman's most recent entry, "Hamid Karzai Deserves Some Heat":
Some foreign policy watchers I usually agree with are hitting the Administration for getting tough with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, defending this "friend" of the U.S. This fits with the growing (and correct) critique that President Obama has been soft on our enemies and hard on our allies. Karzai, however, deserves some heat.
The case against Karzai isn't tough to make. Corruption, including among his notorious brother, is just about the worst in the world, one recent report found. Karzai sanctioned widespread fraud in August elections. There may be a democrat beneath the fez-like hat, but being realistic, probably not. Bottom line: after years of major international support, Karzai's government has too few accomplishments. In March, President Karzai hosted Iran's Ahmadinejad with red carpet treatment. He stood silently by his side as Ahmadinejad accused the U.S of promoting terrorism. Some friend.