Wanna bet?

I suspect that the interactions of the Obama administration (from Obama on down) with Israeli President Benyamin Netanyahu were similar to those with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Obama called both on the carpet in a very public fashion. In private, he probably told they had no choice but to knuckle under and do what he wanted. (And to wear them down, he threw in an unpleasant phone call from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.)

And I suspect both felt about the same about their treatment. Karzai, however, is much less firmly linked to the United States and American policy than is Netanyahu. At least, that's how I explain this passage from an piece in the Los Angeles Times: "Over the weekend, Karzai reportedly told Afghan lawmakers that he would consider joining the Taliban if the United States continued to undermine him."

Someone needs to tell Obama that he can't treat our allies the same way he treats Republicans, tea partiers, and other domestic irritants. Foreigners have options.