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KABUL: Former President, Hamid Karzai, said in reaction to the US President Donald Trump’s nasty statements on wiping Afghanistan off the face of earth, said that Afghans are averse to the US presence in their country, calling the US to get out of Afghanistan.
Trump said on Monday in Washington and in the presence of Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan that he had plans for ending the Afghan war in 10 days. He also said that he could wipe the war-hit country off of the face of earth, but he did not do that because he didn’t want “10 million people” to be killed.
Karzai in an interview with the Voice of America, said Wednesday that that Trump’s statement was a big and blatant disrespect to the people of Afghanistan. Karzai also blamed President Ashraf Ghani’s “weak reaction” to the US president’s words.
President Ghani’s office in a statement said that no foreign power could determine fate for Afghanistan and Afghans. The statement asked for clarification from the White House over Trump’s statement.
“The government’s statement was very weak. Why do you want clarification? He claims to kill you and you ask for a clarification from him?” Karzai said.
Karzai was strongly opposing the US airstrikes on Afghan villages, night raids and killing and detaining civilians during his presidency (2001-2014). He also raised voice against the Bagram detention facility, in which detained Afghans were kept by the US troops.
The former president refused to sign a bilateral security pact with Washington at the end of his presidency, asking for stop of the US attacks on the Afghans’ homes.
“I condemn (Trump’s statement) in strongest terms. This shows the US government’s idea against us and we should be vigilant,” Karzai told the US radio channel. “The signs of their idea became clear when they dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb on our soil in Shinwar.”
The former president expressed doubt to a secret deal between Washington and Islamabad over peace efforts in Afghanistan, saying that Afghans want peace, but they do not want a “deal between the United States and Pakistan”. “Where is the word for peace when he (Trump) says about killing of 10 million people? We want peace, the US doesn’t.”
In response to a question that Trump doesn’t want to play the role of gendarme in Afghanistan anymore, Karzai said, “Goodbye, get out sooner, we are fed up with you!”
He called on the Taliban to stop war. “Each bullet that they (Taliban fighters) fire, this helps the US, helps the US goals,” said the former president. “I would like to call on Taliban to stop fighting considering the US president’s statement.”
Karzai asked President Ghani’s government to be the real leader and real representative of the people of Afghanistan. “The government should tell the US to pull out of Afghanistan. The government should reach an agreement with the Taliban and resolve the current problems with the cooperation of all Afghans.”
