Lawmakers: Afghan leader threatens to join Taliban
By AMIR SHAH and CHRISTOPHER BODEENKABUL – Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened over the weekend to quit the political process and join the Taliban if he continued to come under outside pressure to reform, several members of parliament said Monday.
Karzai made the unusual statement at a closed-door meeting Saturday with selected lawmakers — just days after kicking up a diplomatic controversy with remarks alleging foreigners were behind fraud in last year’s disputed elections.
Lawmakers dismissed the latest comment as hyperbole, but it will add to the impression the president — who relies on tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO forces to fight the insurgency and prop up his government — is growing increasingly erratic and unable to exert authority without attacking his foreign backers.
“He said that ‘if I come under foreign pressure, I might join the Taliban’,” said Farooq Marenai, who represents the eastern province of Nangarhar.
“He said rebelling would change to resistance,” Marenai said — apparently suggesting that the militant movement would then be redefined as one of resistance against a foreign occupation rather than a rebellion against an elected government.
Marenai said Karzai appeared nervous and repeatedly demanded to know why parliament last week had rejected legal reforms that would have strengthened the president’s authority over the country’s electoral institutions.
Two other lawmakers said Karzai twice raised the threat to join the insurgency.
The lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of political repercussions, said Karzai also dismissed concerns over possible damage his comments had caused to relations with the United States. He told them he had already explained himself in a telephone conversation Saturday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that came after the White House described his comments last week as troubling.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said reports Karzai threatened to abandon the political process and join the Taliban insurgency if he continued to receive pressure from Western backers to reform his government are troubling.
“On behalf of the American people, we’re frustrated with the remarks,” Gibbs told reporters.
The lawmakers said they felt Karzai was pandering to hard-line or pro-Taliban members of parliament and had no real intention of joining the insurgency.
Is this finally the last straw? Will we now wake up, and realize that we have no Muslim allies? They are using us for our money, and to gain power. In the end they will stand with Islam against us. It is time to bring the troops home, drill where we can, and end all Muslim immigration and aid. As I have been saying for years, it will be us or them. There will be no middle ground, so take a side.
Anyone not see that coming?
I am on another conservative site, and there are bunch of them that are mad at me. Saying this is just not true. I can see us losing this war.
Well, Brennan said they were pulling out of Afghanistan next year.
Surah 3:28 — "Let believers not make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful — he that does this has nothing to hope for from Allah — except in self-defense." Mawdudi explains, "It is lawful for a believer . . . to keep his faith concealed and to behave in such a manner as to create the impression that he is on the same side as his enemies. A person whose Muslim identity is discovered is permitted to adopt a friendly attitude toward unbelievers in order to save his life." Karzai ain't gettin' that lovin' feeling from Uncle Sam anymore.
Exactly, Gary. It's what muslims are called to do. It's what muslims are taught to do while living in infidel lands..milk the 'Great Satans' for all their benefits and success and then use those things in their efforts to destroy the very ones that are practically bending over backwards to appease and accommodate them…much to my anger and our detriment!
A muslim=jehadi=taliban=pakistan=osama's follower.
The west should respond with the threat to nuke all arselifters back to the friggin' stone age… oh wait, they already live in the stone age. Sorry, forgot about that.
Make that threat to an age where the stone age would look like heaven!
Drop the NUKES. Blacktop this place. His corruption schemes are threatened.
Talibans hate him, so if he decide to join them they will immediatelly kill him.
It is such a shame that the West has never learnt and will never learn ,that you can NEVER trust a Muslim,no matter what good you do for them,they can change like a wind. I say Western forces should pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq and let the muslims settle their acccount with each other. Let a dog eat a dog. http://www.inthenameofallah.org
Yes, that's the only sensible solution.
And in news just in –
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36196464/ns/world_new…
I think Afghan job should be shifted to some other willing contributor like India .The reason for us loosing Afghanistan is the fact that our army is a expensive one with HUMV for just 4 soldiers ,a third world army like indian with a truck loaded with soldiers like mama happy's chickens is more cheaper to operate there .Besides i think we are getting economically beaten in Afghanistan not by arm to arm wrestleis not question of right or wrong any more .Its the question of destroying ourselves
The only problem I see is that an IED would take out more soldiers that way.