Good news from Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai — last in the news for threatening to join the Taliban — is now talking about canceling the coalition’s entire planned Kandahar offensive.

Karzai threatened to delay or even cancel the operation — one of the biggest of the nine-year war — after being confronted in Kandahar by elders who said it would bring strife, not security, to his home province.

Visiting last week to rally support for the offensive, the president was instead overwhelmed by a barrage of complaints about corruption and misrule. As he was heckled at a shura of 1,500 tribal leaders and elders, he appeared to offer them a veto over military action. “Are you happy or unhappy for the operation to be carried out?” he asked.

The elders shouted back: “We are not happy.”

“Then until the time you say you are happy, the operation will not happen,” Karzai replied.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our military operations in Afghanistan now hinge on the approval of corrupt tribal leaders and a guy who may be addicted to the drugs his brother manufactures. Because that’s how the most powerful military in the world rolls in the 21st century.

How important is the Kandahar offensive? It’s been described as the “center of gravity” by the US government. Writes independent war correspondent Michael Yon:

The Battle for Kandahar has begun. The face of this battle is not one of sudden fury but a process, a complex struggle for legitimacy between local Taliban governance and Kabul rule…

This year, 2010, is particularly crucial for the future of Afghanistan. The fight is on for key physical terrain, politcal terrain, and information dominance. Before Christmas, we will know who won the Battle for Kandahar. Who wins this Battle likely will win the war.

Everything, and I mean everything, hinges on success in this battle. And now the Afghan president, who’s known to publicly ponder joining the freaking Taliban, is threatening to cancel the whole thing.

It’s time for Karzai’s issues to be dealt with or for us level the country on the way out. Because the situation is quickly going from insanity to outright bullshit.