Washington: In a stern message to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the United States has warned him to act fast against corruption and governance failing which it will find someone else for the job.
“If those that are responsible at their different level are providing the services that a government has to and needs to provide its people, then we will have a great relationship with working with those people. If those people don't, then we will find people that will,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
As the Obama administration was running against time to start the process of drawdown and transition to Afghans from July 2011, the White House indicated that this time Karzai would not enjoy the kind of leverage it did during the Bush Administration and he would not get a second chance.
The White House even spoke of bypassing Karzai if his administration failed to fight against corruption and provide good governance to the people of his country.
“If President Karzai is unable or unwilling to make changes in corruption or governance, that we will identify people at a sub-cabinet level, at a district level that can implement the types of services and basic governance without corruption that Afghans need,” Gibbs said.
“What we want them to understand is there can't be a permanent dependence on us being there; that we are going to incentivize, again, through changes in governance and in training, putting onto them the responsibility of both running a government that meets the needs of the people and training and equipping a security force that will provide the necessary security to prevent the Taliban from overthrowing the government.
“As the President (Barack Obama) said, or creating a safe haven that would allow al-Qaeda to return and plan and plot another attack on our homeland,” Gibbs said.
“The President (Barack Obama) has been clear with President Karzai, both in his recent meeting over the secure video teleconference and phone call right after he was declared the winner and the next continued President of Afghanistan, that corruption very directly had to be addressed,” the White House official said.
“I don't want to get into the flow of any of that, but suffice it to say that we're making very determined resource commitments both in manpower and in money, from American service members and American taxpayers, that we expect will be used for the purpose they were appropriated for, not for lining the pockets of somebody's friend,” he said.
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