The Afghan guard of honour, in green uniform and white gloves, formed an orderly line at Kabul's presidential palace, Arg-e-Shahi, as snowflakes drifted down through the smog onto their gold braid. It would be some hours before they welcomed Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general. But beforehand the guards had to line up for a different sort of inspection: passing through a metal detector; being frisked; and placing their rifles through an x-ray machine to make sure they were unloaded. One can never be too safe when it comes to the security of Hamid Karzai, the target of many an assassination attempt during his seven years as president.rnAmerican policy in Afghanistan, resting on the idea of bolstering Mr Karzai's government, has been one bullet away from disaster. But as the Taliban surge back with every year of fighting-this week insurgents killed at least 20 people in attacks on three government buildings in Kabul-the Americans are starting to think that the real problem may be Mr Karzai himself.
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