Farewell Address - Hamid Karzai at Kabul, Afghanistan (and reply by U.S. Ambassador) - September 23, 2014

Afghan President Hamid Karzai slammed the United States during his farewell address Tuesday (September 23, 2014), saying the U.S. war effort had failed to make Afghanistan peaceful.
Karzai, who will be replaced by President-elect Ashraf Ghani on Monday (September 29, 2014), accused the American government of spending the past 13 years focused on “its own interests” instead of what was best for the Afghan people.
“We don’t have peace because Americans didn’t want peace,” Karzai told a gathering of several hundred Afghan government employees.
“If the U.S. wants Afghanistan to be a good friend, it needs to match its words with actions,” Karzai later added.
Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, when the NATO coalition installed Karzai in office, more than 2,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and about $100 billion in U.S. tax money spent rebuilding the country. Karzai did not mention that commitment, prompting a rare rebuke from U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham.

In a meeting with Western reporters Tuesday evening (9/23/2014), Cunningham called Karzai’s remarks “ungracious and ungrateful.”
“His remarks, which were uncalled for, do a disservice to the American people and dishonor the sacrifices that Americans have made here . . . and continue to make,” Cunningham said.
In an interview, Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said Karzai has repeatedly stressed that he appreciates what U.S. troops and taxpayers have done to try to help Afghanistan.
But Faizi said Karzai strongly believes that the U.S. government hasn’t been aggressive enough in confronting Pakistan over “insurgent sanctuaries” on its territory. _________________
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