Afghan President Hamid Karzai was due to round up his Washington visit yesterday, after meeting congressional leaders and touring Arlington National Cemetery, where many US war dead from the conflict in Afghanistan are buried.
During the flagship event of the four-day visit intended to mend fences after months spent trading barbs, US President Barack Obama insisted on Wednesday that tensions between the US and Afghan governments were “overstated.”
The leaders met at the White House in the wake of awkward public exchanges that strained their alliance and complicated Obama’s gamble on a 30,000-strong troop surge designed to lay the groundwork for a US exit from the Afghan battlefield.
PHOTO: EPA
“There are going to be tensions in such a complicated, difficult environment and in a situation in which, on the ground, both Afghans and Americans are making enormous sacrifices,” Obama said.
An Oval Office meeting was followed by a press conference that served as both a public bonding session and an effort by Obama to convince the US public that genuine progress is being made.
Karzai put on an assured political performance, at odds with his tirades just weeks ago against foreign interference. He also shrugged off recent spats.
“We are in a campaign against terrorism together, there are days that we are happy. There are days that we are not happy,” said Karzai, wearing his trademark green cloak and sheepskin hat in the ornate East Room.
Only weeks ago, top Obama aides said Karzai’s claims that foreigners plotted fraud in Afghan elections were cause for “genuine” concern
In March, the US president told Karzai during a visit to Kabul that he must do more to fight corruption, but on Wednesday, Obama welcomed “progress” by Karzai on anti-corruption efforts, improved governance, and work toward credible parliamentary elections later this year.
“Of course, President Karzai and I both acknowledge that much more work needs to be done,” Obama said.
Obama said he was confident that slow but steady progress would allow him to meet his stated goal of starting to draw down US troop numbers by July next year, and was also “encouraged” by Pakistan’s actions against extremists.
Karzai later made the rounds on Capitol Hill and pleaded for patience in his much criticized fight against corruption.
He was scheduled to visit Fort Campbell, Kentucky, headquarters of the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division, today. The division deploys to Afghanistan.
Most senators gave Karzai positive reviews.
“We didn’t notice any scars ... Sounds like things are on a very even keel, very positive, we didn’t see any evidence of any lingering problem,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat.
Obama also voiced support for Karzai’s efforts to woo wavering Taliban members back into Afghan society, but only if they renounced al-Qaeda and violence.
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