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| Afghanistan |
| Karzai Slams the West Again |
| 2010-04-05 |
| KABUL, Afghanistan--President Hamid Karzai lashed out at his Western backers for the second time in three days, accusing the U.S. of interfering in Afghan affairs and saying the Taliban insurgency would become a legitimate resistance movement if the meddling doesn't stop. Mr. Karzai, whose government is propped up by billions of dollars in Western aid and nearly 100,000 American troops fighting a deadly war against the Taliban, made the comments during a private meeting with about 60 or 70 Afghan lawmakers Saturday. At one point, Mr. Karzai suggested that he himself would be compelled to join the other side --that is, the Taliban--if the parliament didn't back his controversial attempt to take control of the country's electoral watchdog from the United Nations, according to three people who attended the meeting, including an ally of the president. Mr. Karzai blamed the lawmakers' resistance to his move on a foreign conspiracy, they said. The Afghan president's latest remarks came less than 24 hours after he assured U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that he was committed to working with the U.S. That phone call was precipitated by a similar--but less vitriolic--anti-Western diatribe Mr. Karzai delivered earlier last week. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #15 Things are, as always, delicately unbalanced in Afghanistan, especially those bits where President-by-courtesy-of-America Karzai holds court. So what does the head of America do? He runs over there especially to tell his dear friend Hamid that if he doesn't meet an ever-changing but impossible standard post-haste and publicly, the American troops that that are needed to maintain this fragile imbalance will be pulled out without any further warning... or something along those lines. Can you blame the man for being seriously annoyed with the entirety of the Western world that dragged him into this situation, however much he may have thought he wanted it originally? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-04-05 20:57 |
| #14 Pull out. Tell them they had their chance. Explain that if they continue the drug and terrorism trades targeted strikes will happen to appropriate political (terrorism) and civil (drugs) targets. Then blow up shit as necessary. F em. |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2010-04-05 20:00 |
| #13 I understand why we tried the hail mary pass attempting to get Democracy to gain a perch in the barren womb of Mesopotamia but I don't really understand the attempt in Afghanistan. Consistency has some value I guess but some things aren't worth fighting for and some cultures don't understand things. We should have reinstalled the constitution and King (or a credible royal) from before the coup that led to the Soviet invasion. Reboot Afghanistan, try to put them back in time before they went all civil war and holy war rather than adding this great new Democracy thing to the mix. Having said that we should have done a similar thing in Iraq. Even if we were going to go for Democracy they had a functional constitution that could have been edited to remove Royal this and that. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2010-04-05 18:34 |
| #12 I think it's time someone else wears the funny hat. |
| Posted by: Craimble Darling of the Munchkins9210 2010-04-05 14:51 |
| #11 Decisions decisions. The deadly pufferfish sushi filet. But POTUS is too much of frappéd and pampered chef to bring out the ginzu knives and chopping block IMHO. |
| Posted by: Richelieu 2010-04-05 14:31 |
| #10 No, it's time for us to figure out that the difference between Karzai and the next Afghan leader is primarily the way they spell their names. It is a place without intrinsic value. That is why we should leave. That is why we should leave now. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-04-05 14:31 |
| #9 Isn't it time for Karzai to be served the special Sushi? The Polonium Special. Maybe Ricin dusted Salad or something. |
| Posted by: Secret Asian Man 2010-04-05 14:18 |
| #8 Late in 2001 Karzai was the US designated Golden Boy after Abdul Haq ignored advice and went into Afghanistan on horseback and managed to get himself strung up on a tree. The US SOF team directing the Kandahar battle called down a 2000# JDAM on their own position (dead battery). As the bomb hit, the SOF team leader covered Karzai with his own body and took the shrapnel. As far as I know, Karzai still has all his fingers. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-04-05 14:06 |
| #7 What do we do if it really is the will of the Afghan people to shelter the Taliban, make peace with them and maybe be ruled by them? What if the Afghan people don't mind terrorist attacks on the west organized from their territory? In the end this is about the fundamental nature of the western mission in that country. Are our troops ultimately servants to the Afghan people or are they in the country to destroy the Taliban, as an act of retaliation for 9/11? Official statements by representatives of the US gov support both interpretations, but they're not compatible, a decision must be made. |
| Posted by: Angusoque Ghibelline1266 2010-04-05 13:54 |
| #6 Karzai almost had a finger blown off directing a 500lb bomb? I thought he was in exile in Great Britain?? |
| Posted by: chris 2010-04-05 13:51 |
| #5 If Karzai goes into opposition to the West, the West is toast. No. The Northern Alliance will string up Karzai and go to town on the Pashtuns. Not disturbing Pashtun beauty sleep won't be part of the NA's ROE. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-04-05 13:50 |
| #4 Why do we support this turd. He wants to take over the election commission so he can rule forever. He is corrupt as the day is long. We need to get out of that craphole...tomorrow. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2010-04-05 13:45 |
| #3 If Karzai goes into opposition to the West, the West is toast. He is a formidable opponent. When he was notified that he was to be Afghanistan's leader, he was in the middle of a firefight, finger just about blown off a 500 lb bomb he directed onto an enemy position. The day US Socialist Democrats took over America, relations with all of our allies has been thrown into disarray. Obama and Clinton need to go. |
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| #2 "A businessman with close ties to Mr. Karzai said the Afghan leader was insulted by Mr. Obama's comments and left with even greater doubts about the American commitment to Afghanistan." Isn't this the usual result of any world leader meeting with the Big "O"? |
| Posted by: Angese the Lesser6184 2010-04-05 10:10 |
| #1 he himself would be compelled to join the other side Well, if he f*cks up the taliban like he has his own government... |
| Posted by: Spot 2010-04-05 08:09 |