Venomous Exchanges Between Hamid Karzai and the White House

On Monday, April 5, the American government announced its disappointment and dissatisfaction about speeches and repeated statements by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who accuses the Western countries of having orchestrated fraudulent elections during last August’s presidential campaign.

However, Washington has assured that the planned May 12 meeting between Karzai and American President Barack Obama will remain on the agenda.

“The remarks are genuinely troubling. The substance of the remarks, as have been looked into by many, are obviously not true,” confirmed the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs.

Last week, Mr. Obama, who went to Kabul for the first time since his election, met Mr. Karzai. The latter has, a few days later, accused the “foreign powers” of having planned fraudulent elections and corrupted civil servants with the aim of weakening his government. Washington immediately demanded explanations.

Sunday, Hamid Karzai confirmed, in the presence of tribal chiefs, that Afghans should be able to trust that their leaders are not “puppets” and that the government wouldn’t allow “foreigners” to meddle in their affairs. Monday, he maintained his accusations during an interview broadcast by the BBC. “What I said about the election was all true, I won’t repeat it, but it was all true,” he assures.

“That the U.S. carried out the fraud?” retorted the journalist of the British channel. “That’s exactly what happened. I mentioned the elements who did it,” answered the Afghan president.*

*Editor’s Note: This quotation was taken directly from the Afghan president and has not been edited for grammar.