Afghan leader pledges to protect Taliban from US

Hamid Karzai, ungrateful wretch

Well isn't this cute. Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, after receiving shelter and support in the United States, after receiving hundreds of millions of dollars of aid, after hundreds of our military have died protecting him and his country from the Taliban and al-Qaeda, this ungrateful so-and-so is willing to hold talks with the very people who continue to kill his citizens and US personnel.

The reality is that if the US and our allies withdrew from Afghanistan, Karzai and all his government would be killed by the Taliban and al-Qaeda within days of our leaving.

This ungrateful wretch needs to decide which side he is on.

FROM THE TELEGRAPH.CO.UK:

Afghan leader pledges to protect Taliban from US

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he will personally protect the former head of Afghanistan's Taliban regime from the US if he joins peace talks.

By Ben Farmer in Kabul
Last Updated: 10:02AM GMT 17 Nov 2008

Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is willing to hold talks with any groups which recognise the country's constitution, including the Taliban Photo: GETTY

Mr Karzai said he would go "to any length" to protect Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has a $10 million price on his head from the US government.
He challenged his Western backers to leave the country or remove him if they disagreed.

After three years of an increasingly violent insurgency, the Afghan government has said it is willing to hold talks with any groups which recognise the country's constitution. Government representatives and former members of the Taliban are said to have met in Saudi Arabia two months ago, though both sides deny talks took place.

"If I hear from him that he is willing to come to Afghanistan or to negotiate for peace... I, as the president of Afghanistan, will go to any length providing protection," Mr Karzai told a press conference.
"If I say I want protection for Mullah Omar, the international community has two choices – remove me or leave if they disagree," he said.
Omar has been in hiding since his regime was toppled by the US for refusing to hand over al-Qaeda terrorists behind the September 11 attacks. Afghan officials say he is hiding in Quetta in Pakistan, while Pakistan says he remains in southern Afghanistan.

Mr Karzai said the Taliban leadership still had to prove it wanted peace. "We are not in that stage yet. Right now, I have to hear it from the Taliban leadership, that they are willing to have peace in Afghanistan," he said.
A Taliban representative last week said the group would never negotiate with Afghan or Western officials while foreign troops remained in the country.