Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday told Washington Congressmen Rick Larsen and Brian Baird he worries plans to pull U.S. troops out of his country next year helps insurgents and the Taliban.
According to the Associated Press, Karzai told a congressional delegation:
President Barack Obama’s announcement that he would begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July 2011 has given “the enemy a morale boost” because they believe they can simply hold out until the Americans leave.
Larsen and Baird along with Republican Reps. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania and Bob Inglis of South Carolina met with the Afghan leader for a wide-ranging discussion on the conflict in Afghanistan. Gen. James Mattis, the head of the U.S. Central Command, who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, also reportedly took part in the conversation.
According to AP’s Robert Reid:
Karzai also raised concerns about Taliban hideouts in Pakistan, Inglis said, asking the lawmakers to provide more help in trying to stop attacks from across the border.
“He seemed pretty pumped up, very determined and energetic and optimistic, which was not the way I thought we’d find him,” Inglis said.
The members of Congress made their concerns clear on the need for Karzai to rid his government of corruption.
Inglis said the lawmakers raised the issue of corruption and that Karzai assured them he is working on it. Karzai tried to describe the difference between low-level corruption and high-level corruption, but the lawmakers told him both were unacceptable, Inglis said.
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