President Karzai: If Afghan Lives not Protected, Strategic Cooperation Loses Meaning

Publish Date: May 07, 2012

May 7, 2012 -President Hamid Karzai summoned top NATO commander, Gen. John Allen, and the US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker to the presidential palace for an extraordinary security meeting on Monday for explanation on military operations in four provinces that led to civilian casualties.

In bombardments carried out since Saturday by foreign troops in the provinces of Logar, Kapisa, Helmand and Badghis, dozens of innocent people including women and children lost their lives.

President Karzai reminded Gen. Allen and Ambassador Crocker that civilian casualties and bombing villages were neither acceptable in the past nor is that acceptable today.

The President said civilian casualties have always hurt the relations between Afghanistan and the US, stressing that the unilateral decision to conduct operations and bomb innocent people is not only an issue of national sovereignty, but also of human lives, to which we can’t simply turn a blind eye.

President Karzai underlined that Afghanistan signed the Strategic Partnership Agreement with the United States with the aim to prevent such incidents from happening again and to safeguard people’s lives. “If the lives of Afghans are not safe, then the strategic cooperation loses its meaning,” the President urged.

In response, Gen. Allen said he personally takes responsibility for the incidents and would report back to the President after a full investigation.

Prior to the meeting, the President made separate calls to the governors and local authorities in the respective provinces for details on the inciden