"In fact those bombs, set off yesterday in the name of the Taliban, were in the service of Americans to keep foreigners longer in Afghanistan," said Karzai in a speech, referring to a bomb blast in Kabul and one in Khost city the day of Hagel's arrival. Karzai's logic here is that more attacks would indicate a larger necessity for U.S. presence.
Already we can see what sort of job Chuck Hagel has cut out for him.
The new
From a Reuters report:
Hagel appeared at pains to be respectful of Karzai and avoid sharp criticism, but he told reporters that any collusion between the U.S. and the Taliban "wouldn't make a lot of sense."
Hagel's first visit to a war he's been tapped to end is not only marred by an uptick in American deaths, and the specter of impending defense cuts, now he needs to mitigate a president who is willing to believe things one might only find in the underbelly of the Internet.