"We want the Americans to respect our sovereignty and be an honest partner. And bring a lot of money."
Thus declared Afghan President Hamid Karzai to a council of his country's tribal elders, the Loya Jirga. You have to hand it to him: No client regime before has shown such open disregard for its patron and protector. In its engagements in what used to be called the Third World, the United States had the misfortune of riding with a bunch of unsavory rulers — Fulgencio Batista of Cuba, Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua, Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and so on.
During the Cold War, we cornered ourselves. It was either communism or these strongmen. None, I dare say, spoke with such open contempt of their American patrons as Karzai has.