CORRUPTION IN Afghanistan is a serious problem that could make it impossible for the government of Hamid Karzai ever to gain ascendancy over the Taliban. On that virtually everyone in the country agrees -- including, notably, Mr. Karzai. Mr. Karzai is not comparable to Ngo Dinh Diem, Ferdinand Marcos or other venal American-backed autocrats of the Cold War era; nor is his government hopelessly compromised. Mr. Karzai is and has always been an Afghan nationalist -- one who has tried to insist on Afghan sovereignty; who objects to Western practices that have encouraged corruption; and who, above all, bridles at being publicly lectured or treated as an adversary by the Obama administration.
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