A few weeks from the Afghan presidential run-off, few people in the west know much about President Hamid Karzai’s opponent, Abdullah Abdullah. Since President Karzai is clearly an unworkable partner if we want to succeed in Afghanistan (at any level), it’s worth evaluating his rival. I was pleasantly surprised at what I discovered.
Abdullah was born in Kabul in 1960, and graduated from medical school there with a degree in ophtalmology in 1983 (Ophtalmology deals with eye disease and surgery). Like Karzai, he is an ethnic Pashtun.
After finishing his residency, Abdullah worked in the Ophthalmology Hospital for Afghan Refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan and also became the Director of Healthcare for the Resistance Front. In 1986, by which time the Soviet Occupation had turned especially sour, Abdullah became the Special Advisor and Chief Assistant to Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud. Massoud was not only a legendary insurgent against the Soviets, but he led the Northern Alliance military resistance against the Taliban. Some suggest it was no coincidence that he was murdered by Al-Qaeda before the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Abdullah himself served as Defense Minister from 1992-1996. After the Taliban take-over, Abdullah served as Foreign Minister of the government in exile, and was a key diplomat to the west until the war in Afghanistan began in 2001.
Abdullah was Minister of Foreign Affairs for then-Chairman Karzai’s transitional government, and became his first Foreign Minister, a position he held until 2006. Interestingly, Abdullah pushed for Afghanistan to adopt a parlimentary system, arguing that presidencies outside the United States too often led to autocracies.
This isn’t the most detailed biography, but then, we don’t get to vote. We only get to know who our potential partners are, Abdullah’s background makes me inclined to root for him over Karzai
Janos Marton blogs at outofafghanistan.blogspot.com
