Bye Bye, Karzai

Outgoing Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai denounced the United States in his farewell speech and insisted that, despite tens of thousands of wounded and dead American service personnel (and over a trillion dollars in aid), the United States has been a curse upon his country. Instead Karzai showered praise on Iran and China as great allies for Afghanistan. This is the man who the CIA openly gave regular suitcases of cash to and led a government where billions simply disappeared.

The Obama Administration insisted on the money continuing to flow into Karzai’s pockets even as he attacked the U.S. and Americans as “demons”, and moves to shift alliances to Iran and China.

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We have looked like utter fools for over a decade in pouring money into the country while our schools and domestic programs have been curtailed due to budget shortfalls.

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In the meantime, the U.S. is pouring more money into the country in an effort to keep U.S. advisers and trainers in the country. Ghani Ahmadzai has said he will sign the agreement (which Karzai refused to do) so that we can spend more billions.

  Jonathan Turley

"We don't have peace because the Americans didn't want peace," said Karzai, who will officially give way to President-elect Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai when the latter is sworn in Monday.

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Karzai's words were met with a furious response by the American ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham, who called the comments "ungracious and ungrateful."

"It makes me kind of sad. I think his remarks, which were uncalled for, do a disservice to the American people and dishonor the huge sacrifices Americans have made here and continue to make here," Cunningham told a gathering of journalists.

  Fox News

”True though they are,” he did not say.

Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi told The Washington Post that while the president appreciates the efforts of U.S. troops and taxpayers to rebuilt the war-torn country, he also believes that the U.S. did not do enough to confront Pakistan-backed militants in the country and that Washington and Islamabad "sabotaged" efforts to reach a peace deal with the Taliban.

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In his final year in office, Karzai refused to sign a security agreement with the U.S. that would set the legal framework to allow about 10,000 American military advisers and trainers to stay in the country next year. Ghani Ahmadzai has said he will sign it.

And that was Karzai’s final straw. He had to go.