Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: Former President Hamid Karzai in a meeting with UN’s top envoy for Afghanistan voiced his disgust and protest of US President Donald Trump’s repeated remarks regarding killing millions to win the Afghan war.
Karzai said this on Saturday during a meeting with Tadamichi Yamamoto, who is serving as UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Trump once again stated that he could win the war in Afghanistan within a week but did not want to kill 10 million people.
“I could win that war in a week if I wanted to. I’m not looking to kill 10 million people. Okay? Many of them would be innocent people. I’m not looking to do that. I’m not talking nuclear, by the way. I’m talking totally conventional. But I’m not looking to kill millions of people in Afghanistan”, Trump told reporters on Friday, broadcasted by NBC News.
In a similar comment in June – which provoked a public outcry with angered Afghan government demanding clarification – Trump had stated that he could end the war in Afghanistan “in a week”, but that doing so would cause millions of deaths.
Karzai expressed his objection and repulsion regarding Trump’s violent remarks in the meeting with Yamamato and urged him to convey the concerns of the Afghan people in this regard to the UN Secretary General.
The two sides also discussed and exchanged views regarding the Afghan peace process, the recent developments made in this sphere and the need for making this process an Afghan-owned in order to secure a long-lasting peace in the country.
This comes as the eighth round of US-Taliban negotiations kicked off in Qatari capital Doha on Saturday. The US is reportedly planning to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan in a new deal being negotiated with the Taliban.
The Washington Post reported that the number of US troops in Afghanistan would be reduced to between 8,000 and 9,000 from the current 14,000, citing US officials.
In exchange, the Taliban would reportedly have to begin negotiating a peace deal with the Afghan government; the deal would also involve a cease-fire and a Taliban renunciation of al-Qaeda.
The proposal is the result of months of talks between the Taliban and the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad.
