How Did IS Emerge in Afghanistan Under the US Watch? – Karzai

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai continues to blame the U.S. for the problems in Afghanistan and wants to know, how under the US watch, with a massive military and intelligence apparatus in place, an organization like the Islamic State was able to take root in the country.

“The US came to Afghanistan to bring peace and stability and defeat extremism — [yet] we have more of it today. Why? That is what we should be discussing,” Karzai said. “Clearly bombings, killings, prisons and the harassment of people [in Afghanistan] have not worked.”

Noting that has emerged in Afghanistan over the past few years, Karzai asked: “Who did this under the watch of US intelligence and military in Afghanistan and how come?”

“We are grateful for what Britain has done in Afghanistan; it was a much, much softer version of what the US did,” Karzai said, admitting, however, that Helmand is no longer in control of the Afghan government today; rather, it is under the Taliban.

“How come there is more extremism in spite of millions of dollars and loss of lives?” Karzai asked. When the interviewer followed up with a question about “proof,” Karzai added: “The proof is what is happening in Afghanistan.”

Karzai has grown more and more vocal about his criticism at Washington although it was the government of President Bush that helped him take power in 2001 when they ousted the Taliban.

Karzai also said that the US has used Pakistan in a “way that was not human” in getting Afghanistan’s neighbor to aid them in ousting the Soviets in the late 1980s. He claims that the US policies will hinder economic development for both Afghanistan and Pakistan

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