Karzai, White House escalate war of words

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A war of words between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the White House escalated on Monday, with Washington expressing frustration that an attempt to smooth over the feud had so far failed.Karzai said he stood by remarks from last week accusing the West of carrying out election fraud in Afghanistan, and appeared to sharpen the criticism still further by singling out the United States specifically for blame.
The White House said it was frustrated on behalf of the American public, and invoked the sacrifice made by families who send their loved ones off to fight. There are more than 120,000 Western troops in Afghanistan, including more than 80,000 Americans, set to rise to 100,000 Americans this year.
Karzai's continued defense of his anti-Western remarks could signal that he is pursuing a deliberate new policy of distancing himself from his Western backers, rather than simply having expressed frustration in a one-off outburst last week.
That could complicate U.S. counter-insurgency war strategy, which depends on showing a united front with Karzai's government and persuading Afghans that troops are there to support it.Karzai phoned U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday to smooth over the quarrel, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that since that phone call "it obviously didn't get any better.
"The remarks are troubling and the substance of the remarks is simply just not true," Gibbs said."On behalf of the American people we are frustrated with the remarks. I think that families all over this country have watched their loved ones go off a long way away to serve bravely in our armed forces and to help a country establish peace and security."
Gibbs said a May 12 visit by Karzai to Washington was still on and Washington would continue to work with Karzai, but had set benchmarks for his government. He did not expect Karzai's remarks to affect consideration in Congress of the Obama administration's request for funds to pay for the war.
KARZAI BLAMES WASHINGTON FOR FRAUD
In his speech on Thursday, Karzai said foreigners had bribed and threatened election workers to carry out fraud in last year's presidential election. He singled out the former deputy head of the U.N. mission in Kabul -- American diplomat Peter Galbraith -- as well as the French head of a European Union monitoring team.
In an interview with BBC television on Monday, Karzai for the first time appeared to ascribe blame for election fraud specifically to Washington, rather than the West as a whole.
"What I said about the election was all true, I won't repeat it, but it was all true," Karzai said."That the U.S. carried out the fraud?" the BBC correspondent asked."That's exactly what happened; I mentioned the elements who did it," Karzai said.He added: "We have partnership, we want to continue this alliance and partnership with the United States and the rest of the world, in the interest of both of us. But this has to be understood by all that Afghanistan is a sovereign country."
In other public remarks in recent days, Karzai told elders in the southern town of Kandahar on Sunday: "Afghanistan will be fixed when its people trust their president is independent ... when its people trust the government is independent and not a puppet."Karzai, who enjoyed close personal relations with President Barack Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, has had a frosty relationship with the Obama administration from the outset. It worsened during a three-month election fraud dispute last year.Obama made the first visit to Afghanistan of his presidency last week, nearly 15 months since taking office. The entire visit took place under cover of darkness and Obama refused to answer questions alongside Karzai, gestures some Afghans saw as snubs.The Obama administration has consistently accused Karzai of doing too little to fight corruption, an issue Karzai says is exaggerated in Western media and largely the fault of Western countries for poorly managing their own aid projects.Among other issues that may have provoked his more confrontational stance last week is a quarrel with parliament and Western countries about the role that foreigners would play in a parliamentary election in September.Karzai has launched a push this year to reach out to insurgents for talks, meeting a skeptical response from U.S. officials who say it is too soon to talk with Taliban leaders.U.S. officials have also briefed reporters that they would like to sideline Karzai's half brother, now a powerful figure in Kandahar, as part of their offensive there. Karzai has stood by his brother despite requests from Washington to push him aside.