Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai Questions if US is a Reliable Partner

This is the problem with dithering. You can not expect someone to rely on you when you refuse to make a commitment in either direction. Even if your plan is a slow withdrawal, you allies have to know so they can prepare and act accordingly. Keeping the plans a secret, or not knowing what you are going to do in the near term, rightly makes your friends nervous. If you do not make some commitment or your plan's known, they are forced to assume and prepare themselves for a lack of support from you. You become an unreliable partner.

Here is where the major problem comes in. If the United States is not a reliable partner, and the Afghan government does not think they can prevail alone, they are forced to either look for a new partner, make a deal with the enemy, or capitulate. The ladder two options are extremely unpleasant, and I do not know who else could and would step in as a reliable partner that we would want to.

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/karzai-questions-us-reliability-as-partner-20091026-hfy6.html

"Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai questioned the reliability of the United States as a partner Sunday, as he fought off criticism of his government’s legitimacy following fraud-marred elections.

Karzai’s main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, warned in an interview with CNN that the US strategy will not succeed without a credible partner in Kabul, blaming Karzai for deteriorating conditions.
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“Is the United States a reliable partner with Afghanistan? Is the West a reliable partner with Afghanistan?” Karzai asked. “Have we received the commitments that we were given? Have we been treated like a partner?”"

Via Gateway Pundit with the simple into "It Has Begun…"