Afghan challenge

While visiting Afghanistan last week, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates held a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in which the subject of government corruption arose.

Mr. Gates said that Afghans themselves should lead the way against such corruption.

During the same conference, President Karzai griped about two Western-backed anti-corruption units that arrested one of Mr. Karzai's top aides for suspected bribery in July.

The Afghan leader was talking about Mohammed Zia Salehi, who was arrested by Afghan police after he was overheard allegedly discussing a bribe. The aide phoned Mr. Karzai from his jail cell and was promptly released.

The Afghan president described corruption investigators as heavy-handed and unfair, the Associated Press reported.

Secretary Gates said that the two entities, the Major Crimes Task Force and the Sensitive Investigative Unit, should function under Afghan law. But he emphasized that the United States would continue to back inquiries into corruption.

"The key here is that the fight against corruption needs to be Afghan-led," Mr. Gates said in the conference. "This is a sovereign country."

Mr. Karzai has promised to fight corruption. The more honest and ethical his administration is, the more effective it will be.

But sounding off about the "unfairness" of investigators is not the way to do it.