Hamid Karzai hits out at US 'threats' over Afghanistan

[Bengal_Tiger]

Hamid Karzai hits out at US 'threats' over Afghanistan




A senior American diplomat warned Afghanistan faces civil war unless it signs a deal for US bases to remain in the country, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president said on Saturday


Mr Karzai accused the United States of brinkmanship

Dean Nelson By Dean Nelson, New Delhi1:15PM GMT 14 Dec 2013 Comments54
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has accused the United States of "threatening" to abandon the country to continuing civil war if he does not allow American and Nato bases to remain in the country for another ten years.

Speaking in New Delhi, Mr Karzai said the threat had been made by a senior American official but he had warned him Afghanistan is prepared for a so-called 'zero-option' in which all Western troops and financial aid is withdrawn.
The United States has urged Afghanistan to sign a 'Bilateral Security Agreement' soon to avoid a military vacuum after the bulk of Nato forces are withdrawn by the end of next year. It wants to keep 15,000 Western troops at nine military bases.

Mr Karzai called a Loya Jirga gathering of tribal leaders last month to decide but he then rejected its vote in favour of the agreement and said he would leave it to his successor to decide next April unless the US agreed to launch peace talks and guarantee its forces would not carry out controversial 'night raids' on civilian homes. Washington said it would only launch raids to prevent attacks on the United States.

On Saturday, Mr Karzai said he had been "hurt" by Washington's approach but would rather lose billions of dollars in Western aid than sign the deal under "threats".

"When a certain US official tells us if you do not give us the BSA your country will go to civil war, that's a threat," he said.

He accused the United States of brinkmanship but said Afghanistan was prepared to suffer the consequences. "If they did [withdraw] then come what may," he added.
That withdrawal would mean the country could no longer pay police or army salaries – a situation and diplomats have warned could lead to instability and further conflict.
Mr Karzai said Afghanistan would live with the consequences if necessary.
"I hope the United States does not put us in a situation where they say you either accept that we will give you billions and in return we should have the right to attack your homes, give you billions and in return you should agree to a continued state of war," he said.
His comments were seen as an unfair attack on James Dobbins, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who is believed to have warned Mr Karzai of the security implications if Western funding of Afghanistan's security forces is withdrawn. He is seen as one of Mr Karzai's strongest supporters within the Obama administration.
One senior Afghanistan analyst said 90 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product is from foreign spending and that the $3 billion it raises through taxes doesn't cover the annual $4 billion it costs to run its security forces. "James Dobbins concluded to remain stable Afghanistan has to keep the security forces together and that an abrupt break with the US would be a major threat to stability which could lead to civil war. It's not a threat, it's a scenario," he said.

"He's bad-mouthing Dobbins and it is stupid. The American population is totally fed up with Afghanistan and wants out," he added.

Hamid Karzai hits out at US 'threats' over Afghanistan - Telegraph



* Usually the US does not take kindly to leaders defying it, and it often ends up using proxies to overthrow them or kill them, even if it is years later. However regardless of what you think of Karzai he has guts to stand up to the USA.

[Bengal_Tiger]

West must recognise that we are also human beings: Karzai





The West must recognise that we are also people. We too have homes, families and children,” Afghanistan President said on Saturday.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday narrated the story of a four and a half year Afghan girl with “no face” left after a bomb went astray, to make the point about a more considerate presence of Western troops in his country after bulk of them withdraw next year.

“The West must recognise that we are also people. We too have homes, families and children,” he said to repeated questioning during a meeting with newspersons and strategic experts in New Delhi on Saturday about differences between Afghanistan and the U.S. over the terms and conditions for signing a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA). The pact will cover the placement of 15,000 U.S. and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) troops in nine locations in Afghanistan for 10 years.

Mr. Karzai said Afghanistan is refusing to sign the pact though it has been approved by the Loya Jirga because the U.S. is not prepared to agree to conditions that would check wanton attacks and indiscriminate operations by its troops.

To make his point, he spoke in detail about an Afghan child he visited in a U.S. hospital. She was found barely alive in the remnants of a vehicle bombed by western troops.

“I went to see her and thought why are they keeping her alive; a child who is without a mother or a face? I asked the doctors if she will ever have a face again and they said she will not really have a face, ever. I have been pleading with the U.S. to respect Afghan homes. They do not have the right to kill an entire family in pursuit of a Taliban fighter who is in the same bus. It is this I will try to stop. People shouldn’t suffer so hugely and tragically,’’ he said when asked about his opposition to the BSA which he wants to sign but with conditions ensuring adequate restraint by the Western troops.

Asked about a letter written by U.S. President Barack Obama promising to respect Afghan homes if Afghanistan signed the BSA, he pointed out that three days after he received the letter, U.S. troops bombed a home killing a two-year-old boy and critically injuring his mother and aunts. “They don’t do this in America. So, Obama should prove his intentions. He has not been proving it.”

He described the Afghan quandary through a paraphrased Hindi couplet delivered with a faultless accent. “You must have heard the couplet: Dua dete hain jeene ki; dava dete hain marne ki (they pray for our well-being but give medicines that kill us). I think the U.S. attitude can be put as: Dua dete hain jeene ki; dava dete hain theek na hone ki (they pray for our well being but given us medicines that will never make us well again).”

The Afghan President was candid about his relationship with the U.S. “The US doesn’t trust me and I don’t trust the US. You saw what they did in 2009 (backed Mr. Karzai’s rival), have caused civilian casualties. We are not a sophisticated country. We are very simple people and see only black and white. There is no grey. You are either a friend or a foe. We want to be friends.”

Describing Syria as one of the best countries in the Arab world, he wanted its Government and the “so-called” opposition to learn from the Afghan experience of three decades of civil war. “The so called opposition should realise that with each bullet fired, Syria will suffer more for many years to come. That is the Afghan experience. My advice to the Syrian Government is end the conflict as soon as possible. The more you fight, the more you suffer. That’s the Afghan experience.”

Mr. Karzai was shocked to see videos showing the Syrian opposition firing rockets at a building accompanied by chants of ‘Allah-o-Akbar’. “How can you take Allah’s name and kill people. They should know that the destruction of their own country will only help those who benefit from turmoil.”

Asked what he would do after hanging up his boots next year, he said he hoped there would be freedom to move about. “Also freedom of speech,” he added. On writing his memoirs, Mr. Karzai smiled and said he was “not a very literate person.”

West must recognise that we are also human beings: Karzai - The Hindu