Hamid Karzai: 'America did not want peace for Afghanistan'


In his final speech to his cabinet and senior staff, Hamid Karzai, the outgoing president of Afghanistan, used his platform to disparage the American "agenda" and blame Western countries for the instability of Afghanistan, The New York Times reports.
"America did not want peace for Afghanistan, because it had its own agendas and goals here," Karzai said. "This war is for the personal interest of foreign policies and this is a fight of outsiders in which Afghans are sacrificed."
Karzai also singled out Pakistan in addition to the United States for neglecting to bring peace to his nation, while praising India for its aid efforts — which total just $1 billion compared to America's more than $100 billion.
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The American ambassador to Afghanistan, James B. Cunningham, responded to Karzai's remarks, calling them "ungracious" and "uncalled for."
Read more from Karzai's speech at The New York Times.
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Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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