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Half-Shuffled Afghan Cabinet Keeps Men Known to U.S.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, under pressure from the U.S. to reduce official corruption, formed a new cabinet, keeping key ministers favored by Western governments and appointing two former anti-Soviet guerrilla commanders whom Afghan policy experts describe as corrupt.Karzai submitted names of his cabinet nominees to the lower house of parliament today, more than a month after being sworn in for a second term following an election in August marred by allegations of fraud. The cabinet will be scrutinized as an early test of Karzai’s commitment to attack official corruption, as President Barack Obama has demanded that he do.While officials gave slightly different lists of the new cabinet, both versions showed Karzai avoiding sweeping changes. He retained the finance, defense and interior ministers and has not yet selected a foreign minister, according to a list given to reporters by officials of the lower house of parliament.“This cabinet brings no good message to the Afghan people” and is unlikely to bolster Karzai’s waning public support, said Haroun Mir, director of the Afghanistan Center for Research and Policy Studies in Kabul, the capital. It is dominated by “former and current ministers and does not offer solutions” to the inefficacy and corruption of the government in its previous five-year term, he said.