Karzai, White House escalate war of words
US: A war of words between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the
White House escalated on Monday, with Washington expressing frustration
that an attempt to smooth over the feud had so far failed.
Karzai said he stood by remarks from last week accusing the West of
carrying out election fraud in Afghanistan, and appeared to sharpen the
criticism still further by singling out the United States specifically
for blame.
The White House said it was frustrated on behalf of the American
public, and invoked the sacrifice made by families who send their loved
ones off to fight. There are more than 120,000 Western troops in
Afghanistan, including more than 80,000 Americans, set to rise to
100,000 Americans this year.
Karzai’s continued defence of his anti-Western remarks could signal
that he is pursuing a deliberate new policy of distancing himself from
his Western backers, rather than simply having expressed frustration in
a one-off outburst last week.
That could complicate U.S. counter-insurgency war strategy, which
depends on showing a united front with Karzai’s government and
persuading Afghans that troops are there to support it.
Karzai phoned U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday to
smooth over the quarrel, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said
that since that phone call “it obviously didn’t get any better.
“The remarks are troubling and the substance of the remarks is simply
just not true,” Gibbs said.
“On behalf of the American people we are frustrated with the remarks.
I think that families all over this country have watched their loved
ones go off a long way away to serve bravely in our armed forces and to
help a country establish peace and security.”
Gibbs said a May 12 visit by Karzai to Washington was still on and
Washington would continue to work with Karzai, but had set benchmarks
for his government. He did not expect Karzai’s remarks to affect
consideration in Congress of the Obama administration’s request for
funds to pay for the war.
Washington, Reuters
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