A year and a half ago, Ted Kaufman was selected to take Joseph Biden’s seat in the United States Senate after Biden became Vice President, and the influence of Biden and his political allies was key in that selection. So, it’s worthy of remark when Senator Kaufman steps aside from the script of the Democratic Party establishment and offers criticism of the Obama Administration’s policies.

That’s just what took place yesterday, as Kaufman delivered a strong critique of what he characterized as Barack Obama’s acceptance of corruption in the American-established government of Afghanistan. In Kaufman’s view, Obama is restricting anti-corruption efforts to low level government officials, turning a blind eye to abuses by Hamid Karzai and his close associates. Kaufman warns that this selective neglect is causing the people of Afghanistan to distrust Karzai’s government.

Kaufman said,

“Corruption at every level of the Afghan Government and distrust between the U.S. and President Karzai are undermining our chances for success. This is the elephant in the room, which cannotbe ignored. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to corruption, or deal with it only at the local level. Rule of law must be instituted from the top, and we will not succeed if corrupt officials escape justice.

Since last year, this is the one area where there has been no progress. To the contrary, the Afghan Government has continued to derail corruption investigations led by Afghan institutions, such as the Major Crimes Task Force and the Special Investigative Unit. This situation has worsened in recent months, as demonstrated by the recent case of Mohammad Salehi, an aide to President Karzai who was arrested for soliciting bribes. President Karzai personally intervened to secure Salehi’s release despite the fact that his arrest was ordered by the Afghan Attorney General and the investigation surrounding the charges against him was Afghan-led.

As the administration prepares for a December review of its strategy, I am deeply concerned that the debate has changed from reducing corruption to determining how much corruption can be tolerated. Reports indicate that the administration has considered focusing on lower level corruption as opposed to that which stems from the top. Make no mistake, just as the ‘fish rots from the head,’ the root of the problem stems from Kabul. This has been clearly demonstrated by the decisions to release corrupt officials, which have been personally made by President Karzai.

Corruption in Afghanistan is a continuum, and we must address the problem at both ends of the spectrum. It is a fallacy to think we can delineate a clear line between corruption at the highest level and the local level, or that we can address this issue without dealing with President Karzai. National and subnational incidents are of equal importance and must be confronted at the same time if we are to be successful.”