Panetta vs. Karzai; slap fight
October 6th, 2012
ROS sends us a link that tells the story how Leon Panetta, the US Secretary of Defense, got huffy when Afghan president Hamid Karzai suggested that American forces should be focusing on terrorists in Pakistan rather than terrorists in Afghanistan;
“We have made progress in Afghanistan because there are men and women in uniform who have been willing to fight and die for Afghanistan’s sovereignty,” Panetta snapped, as he spoke with reporters traveling with him to South America. “Those lives were lost fighting the right enemy not the wrong enemy and I think it would be helpful if the president, every once in a while, expressed his thanks for the sacrifices that have been made by those who have fought and died for Afghanistan, rather than criticizing them.”
The uncharacteristic shot from Panetta comes as tensions between the two countries have escalated over the increase in insider attacks, where Afghan security forces or insurgents dressed in their uniforms have turned their guns on coalition troops. And it raises the temperature on the heels of the announcement that, as of last weekend, 2,000 U.S. troops had lost their lives in the war.
Yeah, well, welcome to the fight, Leon, but you people tolerated Karzai’s complaints about US troops for so many years, at this point, your fake support for our operations in an election year ring pretty hollow.
Karzai spoke at a press conference, complaining that if NATO troops want to go after terrorists they need to go where their safe havens are. And he also expressed frustration that Afghan forces aren’t getting the weapons they need from NATO allies, suggesting Afghanistan might have to go to other countries such as China and Russia to get them.
Hey, Hamid, I hear Afghanistan has it’s own Army – so why don’t YOU go after the Haqqani network in Pakistan.
http://thisainthell.us/
