Outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai used his farewell speech today to take a parting shot at the United States, accusing Washington of waging a war against Taliban insurgents for its ‘own ends’.
Karzai rose to power with American support in 2001 after the ousting of the Taliban regime, but he has often criticised the US military campaign that has failed to defeat the Islamist insurgency that engulfed the country shortly after the invasion.
He will step down next week after a 13-year reign that has seen only limited improvements in infrastructure, health, education and women´s rights despite billions of dollars of aid.
“This is not our war, it is a foreigners´ war, it is based on their goals,” Karzai told government officials as he bid them goodbye at the presidential palace in Kabul.
“America didn´t want peace… America should be honest with Afghanistan. What they say and what they do should be the same.”
