Karzai: U.S. troops can’t leave Afghanistan soon

Source: CNN.com

President Hamid Karzai said that with a resurgent Taliban, a still-flourishing drug trade and a border with Pakistan believed to be home base for al Qaeda, Afghanistan can’t afford for U.S. troops to leave any time soon.

“U.S. forces will not be able to leave soon in Afghanistan because the task is not over,” Karzai said in an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” scheduled to air Sunday. “We have to defeat terrorism. We’ll have to enable Afghanistan to stand on its own feet. We’ll have to enable Afghanistan to be able to defend itself and protect for its security … .

“Then, the United States can leave and, at that time, the Afghan people will give them plenty of flowers and gratitude and send them safely back home.”

Karzai’s comments come as President Barack Obama plans to send another 30,000 troops to fight what he’s called the “central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism.”

At the same time, Karzai said, the actions of troops in Afghanistan have turned some of the public against them.

“It’s the question of civilian causalities. It’s a question of risk of Afghans. It’s the question of home searches,” he said. “These activities are seriously undermining the confidence of the Afghan people in the joint struggle we have against terrorism and undermining their hopeful future.

“We’ll continue to be a friend. We’ll continue to be an ally. But Afghanistan deserves respect and a better treatment.”

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