So after the expected drama (Karzai trying to keep him in an active role, parliament dismissing that declaring it illegal etc) he has finally resigned.


My friend tells me that this benefits the farsiwaan hawks in Kabul the most as any confrontation with Pakistan would be to the direct detriment of the Pashtuns. If Wardak is replaced with a partisan & ideological non-Pashtun then the repurcussions could be severe.



Afghan Defense Minister Quits, Hands
Karzai a Security Headache


KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak resigned on Tuesday
after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving President Hamid Karzai
scrambling to find a replacement for one of his top security tsars as insurgent attacks
mount.

Wardak, in charge of the army and one of the country's two key security ministers,
told reporters he accepted parliament's decision, which has clouded NATO plans to
hand security responsibilities to Afghan forces before the end of 2014.

"I respected the parliament's decision to twice appoint me as defence minister, and
now I accept the parliament decision to remove me. I resign my position," Wardak told
journalists.

Karzai's increasingly unpopular government was already under a cloud, with Finance
Minister Hazarat Omar Zakhilwal vulnerable as a result of accusations aired on Afghan
television that he stashed more than $1 million in overseas banks.

The fractious parliament voted on Saturday to remove Wardak and Interior Minister
Bismillah Mohammadi after recent insurgent assassinations of senior officials, as well as
cross-border attacks blamed on Pakistan.

While Karzai opted to keep him in place in an acting role to underpin stability, Wardak's
decision to quit immediately leaves one of his most vital Cabinet posts vacant at the
peak of the summer fighting months and as U.S. and French troops draw down.

It was not immediately clear how soon Karzai would be able to replace the veteran
four-star general and ethnic Pashtun from eastern Wardak province, who is credited
by Western diplomats with helping forge the fledgling Afghan National Army into an
increasingly effective force against insurgents.

Karzai faced constraints in finding a replacement who could maintain ethnic harmony in
his inner circle, while also needing to win over lawmakers whose backing he needs to
deliver a corruption crackdown promised to Western donors.

"Karzai's next moves will be watched very closely by many sides, in particular in the
context of his recent announcements of a long list of new ‘reform' and anti-corruption
measures," said Fabrizio Foschini of the respected Afghan Analysts Network.

"Karzai will have to operate carefully. There are already grumblings about the
provisional solution of keeping the two ‘impeached' officials as acting ministers, even
though this may be mainly motivated by the need to avoid troubles in the security
organs at a critical stage of transition," he said in a blog posting.

FINANCE MINISTER STANDS HIS GROUND

Finance Minister Zakhilwal held a near-simultaneous press conference to Wardak's,
promising to send a list of his assets to the attorney general to look into claims
against him.

But he declined to pass the dossier to the country's top anti-corruption watchdog,
who has asked Karzai to have him stood down pending completion of an investigation.

"For me today the most important issue is the confidence of the people," said
Zakhilwal.

Zakhilwal, in an interview with Tolo TV on Wednesday, denied any wrongdoing and
said there was nothing untoward in the transfers, which were the result of legitimate
work and business interests before entering government.

On Tuesday he accused both Tolo and Afghanistan's High Office of Oversight and
Anti-corruption chief, Dr. Azizullah Ludin, of conspiring against him.

"The head of the oversight department discussed information in public which was
unethical, not based on fact," he said. "It's obviously based on personal differences he
has had with me from time to time."

Violence in Afghanistan is at its fiercest since U.S.-led Afghan troops overthrew the
Taliban government in 2001. Militants have extended their reach from traditional
strongholds in southern and eastern areas to parts of the country once considered
relatively safe.

Just hours before Wardak quit, an insurgent detonated a remote-control bomb under a
mini-bus on Kabul's outskirts, killing nine civilians, while a truck bomb exploded outside
a NATO base east of the city, wounding 15 people, including three U.S. soldiers.

A foreign soldier was killed in the south by an improvised bomb, while another died in
the volatile east, the NATO-led coalition said.


http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/..._r=2&ref=world




I think it was stupid to dismiss Wardak without having decided on a replacement in advance. Such impulsive decisions do not help anyone. I think Karimi, an ethnic Pashtun would be the obvious choice in the interests of stability though it will be interesting how this turns out.

judging by karzais public statement of respecting the parliament, he is probably not too concerned about non pashtuns filling the void.

And yet another twist in this poorly written drama.



Karzai Appoints Former Defense Minister
as Senior Military Advisor



President Hamid Karzai appointed the former Defense Minister Abdul Rahim
Wardak as his senior military advisor said in a presidential statement released
on Monday.

Wardak will focus on reform, development and training of Afghan National Security
Forces, according to the statement.

Last week, Wardak was dismissed from his Defense Minister post after weak
responses, according to lawmakers, to Pakistan's cross-border rocket attacks into
Afghanistan. He was then ordered by President Karzai to retain his position until a
nominee was suggested to Parliament.

Wardak, however, resigned from his position of nine years mission at the Ministry of
Defense.

ISAF said in a press conference that Wardak's dismissal was a step back as he is one
of its closest allies, but his dismissal would not have a negative impacts on the
security transition.


http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanist...litary-advisor

This is no drama. It is real and the parliament really got rid of them. Wardak was a useless bag of sh!t and a merely a nominal figure in the ministry of defense. On the other hand Bismillah Khan was Panjsheri/NA-cetnric who had turned to systematically curb particularly Pashtuns in the MoI and make it an NA controlled institution. His remaining in the that ministry would not have bode well and would have gave rise to a precarious factionalism undermining everything from within.

The parliament for once took admirable decision, while our president has cowardly kept him in acting capacity to please NA. Good riddance.