Backing the Opposition?

I'm with Spencer Ackerman. I don't think even implicitly backing an opposition candidate against Hamid Karzai in the upcoming presidential election is a good idea. For one, it smacks of interference in national politics that is likely to be resented by all Afghans (except the ones we're backing of course.) Two, it weakens our standing in Afghanistan if we back the loser. Three, why make things harder then they are when it comes to dealing with the Karzai government? And four, we really ought not to overestimate how many problems can be fixed by simply swapping out one politician for another. We Americans tend to think that simply getting an new head honcho can fix an ineffectual and weak government. That just isn't true.