US waged war on Afghans, indulged in corruption, says former president Karzai

Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai has blamed the United States for the fate of the war-ravaged country, saying the protracted war “was not our war" but used by the US and its allies against the people of Afghanistan.

“I was not a partner of the United States in that war against Afghan villages and homes. I changed from the moment I recognized that this war that is fought in the name of defeating terrorism is actually a war against the Afghan people,” Karzai said in an interview with the Washington Post.

“I called the Taliban ‘brothers’ for that reason.”

Karzai said he had a host of disagreements over various issues with the United States. He also accused Pakistan, which entered into an alliance with the so-called US "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, of sheltering militants.

“They knew, the Americans, that the sanctuaries were in Pakistan. They told us that repeatedly. And they would bomb Afghan villages. They would come and tell us that Pakistan was training extremists and terrorists," the former Afghan president said.

"Then, they would go and pay them billions of dollars. When this was repeated and repeated, I had only one conclusion. The conclusion was either the Americans are doing this on purpose, or that they are extremely naive and out of touch with the realities of this region.”

Karzai said he took responsibility for corruption in the country, while also stressing that the US was the biggest player. “…Yes, there was corruption, but to blame Afghans or the Afghan government for it, is wrong. We do take responsibility. I would never say there was no corruption. But who was responsible for it? Afghans or our international partners? Mainly our international partners, and they know it. They will admit it.”

The former president also strongly denounced the administration of US President Joe Biden’s decision to freeze over $7 billion in Afghan assets since NATO’s withdrawal from the country and the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021.

“I strongly disagree with the decision to strip the Afghan reserves, keeping half of it for the possibility of distribution to the 9/11 victims, with whom the Afghan people commiserate fully. …We as the greatest victims of terrorism commiserate fully with American families who lost lives and suffered in that great tragedy of Sept. 11. It is morally wrong to take money from the greatest victim and the poorest victim and give it to another victim when both are victims of the same atrocity, of the same oppression. That’s wrong.”

In February, Washington said half of the assets would be made available to victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

US presence in Afghanistan caused ‘immense suffering’ to civilians: Karzai tells Press TV

Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai tells Press TV that US military activities have caused

The Taliban government in Kabul continues to struggle with the rapidly worsening humanitarian situation in the country amid crippling US sanctions and a shortage of funds.

Millions of Afghans are without work today, the banking system is virtually dysfunctional, medical facilities are lying in shambles and the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history is unfolding. The almost entire Afghan population is living below the poverty line today, according to the United Nations.

US forces occupied Afghanistan for about two decades under the pretext of fighting the Taliban. But when the forces chaotically left the country, the Taliban stormed the capital Kabul, which had been weakened by prolonged occupation.

The country has since been in turmoil. The US and its allies have largely suspended financial assistance to Afghanistan, whose economy is on the verge of collapse. Inflation in the war-ravaged country is soaring, and millions of Afghans are on the brink of starvation.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the former Afghan president, however, explained he had made the right decision to stay in the country even after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.

With the Taliban in power, Karzai said, calls were intensifying for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan. “Of course, we Afghan people are tremendously concerned at the way the country is right now and the way it’s heading.”

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