After setback, prof. writes Karzai book in own words

After three months interviewing President Hamid Karzai as a ghostwriter for the Afghan leader's autobiography, Boston University journalism professor Nick Mills was shocked when Karzai backed out of the deal this summer, leaving Mills to rewrite the book -- this time in his own voice.

Mills, who had worked with Karzai in the 1980s, invited the Afghan president to speak at BU's spring commencement in 2005, and afterward approached him about writing a book. The two agreed to write something that would be part history, part autobiography and part plea -- or warning -- to the United States and the West to not abandon Afghanistan.

Mills took a leave of absence from BU in the fall of 2005 and spent three months interviewing Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan. But, as Letter from Kabul was approaching its release date this fall, Karzai decided against publishing it. Instead, Mills will publish the book under his own name.

"Sometimes he felt uncomfortable, as a sitting president, discussing foreign relations and foreign policy," Mills said in an email. "He would talk about problems with 'the neighbors' but refuse to name names. That's one reason why he feels more comfortable with me assuming the authorship.

"In my office, I have a copy of the uncorrected page proofs, color cover and all, of the book that might have been," he continued.

Wiley & Sons, the book's publisher, has contacted Mills to rewrite the book. The new book, which will be published under a new title and no longer be in Karzai's first-person voice, is scheduled to be released next fall.

Karzai has led Afghanistan since U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. Mills had first met the president in 1987, when Mills was working as the field director for BU's Afghan media project and Karzai was a spokesman for one of the major Afghan factions. Years later, in 2004, Mills spent more than three months working as a journalism trainer and media adviser in Karzai's press office.

It was not until BU President emeritus Aram Chobanian asked Mills to invite Karzai to speak at commencement that the book was proposed.

"Karzai is a charismatic and personable guy with great stories to tell," Mills said.

During interviews for the autobiography, Karzai and Mill occasionally met alone, but other times met in the presence of aides or cabinet ministers. Mills said he does not think the official's presence inhibited Karzai during the interview, but may have had an influence on his eventual withdrawal.

"Also, in all of the times we met and talked, he never once mentioned George W. Bush's name," Mills said. "I thought that was odd, but in fact, he was being discreet and sticking to the old saying, 'If you can't say something nice about someone . . .'"

During his stay in Kabul, Mills conducted hour-long interviews with Karzai at his residence on the palace grounds. Afterward, the president sometimes invited him to stay for dinner, giving Mills a chance to interact with him on a more personal level.

"He seated me at his right hand and would dish up food for me, urging me to try this or that Afghan dish," Mills said. "Usually eight or 10 people would sit down with us -- aides, relatives, cabinet ministers -- but never women. Any women in the house remained out of sight, as is customary."

Mills had the opportunity to develop a long-lasting professional relationship with the Afghan president, an international figure who has been criticized by some and heralded by others.

"I don't think Karzai is particularly controversial," BU international relations professor Charles Dunbar said. "He might be controversial in some quarters, but I think overwhelmingly, he is favored as someone who is doing the best he can in a particularly difficult set of circumstances."

Dunbar said since the overthrow of the Taliban, the United States' relations with Afghanistan have been positive.

"Obviously, there are things that both sides would like to see happening differently, but that is so in any bilateral relationship," he said. "My sense is that the relationship is as good as it could be expected under the circumstances."

Mills, who has been cognizant of Afghan affairs for more than two decades, said U.S. efforts succeeded in late 2001 and 2002 to rout the Taliban and al-Qaida.

"Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida were on the run and in tatters," he said. "They were very nearly destroyed, bin Laden was trapped and nearly caught, and could have been if the U.S. had kept up the pressure. But, instead, the focus of the Bush administration shifted -- for reasons I still do not understand -- to Iraq."

Mills said the Afghan government worries that, because of this shift in focus, Afghanistan could once again fall under terrorist control without the help of western powers.

"Then it was 'Osama bin Forgotten,' and the Taliban and al-Qaida were reinvigorated and are a real threat to destroy the present Afghan government," he said. "One main purpose of the book was to warn the West that 9/11 will happen all over again if Afghanistan is again allowed to become a failed state run by international terrorists, financed by drug lords."