<<I don't think the land is that strategically important.>>
You don't buy that pipeline shit? It doesn't sound all that persuasive to me either, but I think as a piece of real estate in a volatile area it has to have some strategic value. All the roads out sure go to interesting places.
<<Karzai has a corruption problem. >>
Karzai? Every fucking one of them has a "corruption problem." Nobody there sees it as much of a problem, except for some privileged, Western-educated "reformers." Karzai's real problem is that he's too Western for the rest of them. He's a bigger hit with the MSM's talking heads in the West than he is with the people who really count in Afghanistan.
<<I doubt siding with the Taliban will save his ass.>>
He's toast as far as they're concerned. It takes a certain amount of guts for the guy to hang in there as long as he has, but if they ever get their hands on him, he'll finish up like Najibullah.
<<But talking about it gives him a bit of leverage. >>
It would if they took him seriously. Personally, I think he was speaking to the Afghan people, trying to hang on to whatever shrinking credibility he has as an Afghan, trying to prevent any further erosion of his image.