US Wanted War - Karzai

Mr Karzai, the only president Afghanistan had had since the US-led invasion in 2001, said Washington had wanted war in Afghanistan “because of its own interests”. 

His relationship with the US has grown increasingly fragile in recent years, but the diplomatic US-Afghan relationship may be reset on Monday when President-elect Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai will be sworn in.

The US has spent more than $100bn (£61bn) on aid in Afghanistan since 2001 to train and equip the country’s security forces, to pave crumbling dirt roads, to upgrade hospitals and to build schools. But Mr Karzai thanked a slew of other countries for their help – India, Japan, China, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Germany – without mentioning the US. The speech portrayed the White House and the military leaders of neighbouring Pakistan as backing perpetual war. MORE