Uzbek leader General Rashid Dostum's high-profile standoff with hundreds of police in Kabul at the weekend is a sure sign that Afghanistan is facing one of its gravest political crises in recent years. Spearheaded by Britain, and its calculated plot to bypass President Hamid Karzai and provide military training for "good" Taliban, Karzai is being squeezed to either follow the Western line, or get out. But the canny president could yet return the pressure, and with interest. - M K Bhadrakumar (Feb 5, '08)