Showdown

Al Jazeera is reporting that Afghanistan’s attorney general has finalized a list of corrupt officials.

Hashem Ahelbarra, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, reveals, "Overall the list includes 15 former ministers, five ministers currently holding positions and six governors in Afghanistan. They include Rangin Spanta, the foreign minister, Hanif Atmar, the interior minister, as well as Nematullah Shahrani, the top advisor to the president, and the minister of the economy, Jalil Shams."

Prepare for spin and a crash - a showdown with reality.

The list was released on the final day of a three-day anti-corruption conference that Karzai convened shortly after his default re-election. Let’s be real, this is a US anti-corruption list, it cannot be denied without repercussions on two levels: President Obama to Karzai, and the American people to Obama.

Ahelbarra also reports, “We will have to wait for another 48 hours for Karzai to announce the final make-up of his government, to see whether he is hearing calls from the international community and the Afghan people to sanction those involved in bribery and kick-back schemes.”

Does the fate of Afghanistan and all that it entails actually lie in the next two days?