After their press conference was cancelled yesterday over “security concerns,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai finally met with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel today, albeit in private. Hagel put a brave face on the situation after the meeting, downplaying differences with Karzai, who has accused the US of “colluding” with the Taliban.

 

But even putting aside that rhetorical issue, Hagel’s visit has coincided with a series of incidents that suggest the US occupation, nearing its 12th full year, is flying apart at the seams, with insider attacks and popular opposition once again on the rise.

Yesterday, Afghan university student Abdul Qayum detailed his kidnapping and tortured at the hands of an apparent CIA strike force, while protesters in the Wardak Province today blasted US special forces for ignoring a deadline to withdraw from the province after being caught in a series of “disappearances” and murders of their own. Some villagers are threatening an outright revolt if the troops remain, while the US seems opposed to removing them.