On the occasion of the death before the funeral of US President Joe Biden
Author: Amrullah Saleh, former intelligence chief and former vice president of Afghanistan.
Joe Biden was elected vice president of Barack Obama and visited Afghanistan before taking the oath of office. At that time I was the Chairman of the Directorate of National Security of Afghanistan. A banquet was held for him at Arg - the palace of the President of Afghanistan.
I don't remember the exact date of the banquet, but Biden arrived in Afghanistan on January 10, 2009. I think that before meeting with the President of Afghanistan, he had meetings with the American military. Almost the entire Afghan cabinet was present at the banquet. Joe Biden was accompanied by several other people, including Lindsey Graham.
President Karzai is a very serious and dignified person in his behavior and communication. He welcomed Biden, and after an initial introduction, the meeting moved on to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Joe Biden made unconventional and harsh statements. "Mr. Karzai, you consider our presence a gift and permanent," he said. - If necessary, we will do whatever we want. We have an ally called Pakistan, which is fifty-two times more important and better than Afghanistan.”
I don't know where Joe Biden got that number fifty-two times. However, at this meeting, Karzai expected the cabinet to support him, and the president to have the final say. Some people made a speech. At that time there were many reasons to put pressure on the Afghan government. None of the cabinet ministers spoke the clear and bold words that Karzai expected. I was the only one who spoke clearly, but I don’t want to tell my personal story in this post.
Karzai, with despair and anger on his face, did what a patriot should have done. Joe Biden tore the napkin from his knee in protest and placed it next to his plate of salad as if he didn't want to eat Afghan food. Karzai cleared his throat, greeted him again, and delivered his message. I must remind you that these words and their placement in sentences are not necessarily in the same order as Karzai said, but I have been completely honest in conveying the content.
“Mr Biden, it doesn’t matter whether we and our country are important to you or not. Our Motherland is 52 thousand times more important to us than Pakistan. Neither Afghanistan was born with your arrival, nor will it die with your departure. Your words confirm my usual statement that under no circumstances will you give up Pakistan and have hidden connections. You know that the main terrorist is Pakistan Army and ISI and you are unfairly trying to measure strength with our people. Pakistan is too out of reach for you, but you came here in the name of fighting terrorism and are torturing our people. The terrorist's name is Quetta Council. Your army did not drop a single bomb on Quetta. Mullah Umar and his team live in houses arranged by ISI. They drink green tea there, and you are looking for them in Kandahar. The terrorists clearly have schools and bases in Miram Shah and do business in Rawalpindi and Peshawar. Do you think that such a long and vast structure of the Taliban in Pakistan is far from the eyes of its army? Do you think we should believe that you don't have all this evidence? Your words made me realize that we have little or no common interests. We are grateful for your help, but this gratitude does not mean giving up our pride and history. You'd better do this with historical accidents. This nation has a history. Read it. Our current poverty is also caused by the abuses and false slogans that took place in the 1980s. This corruption that you mention essentially goes back to your own presence. You demand an account of the money you gave to my government. Not about money that you spend as you wish for your needs and then write it off to us. Corruption shows up in how you consume and how you work. It is illogical that under the name of corruption, you want me to come into conflict with my people, while a major corrupt official roams around illegally and without criminal prosecution. You are in our homeland. You are in our house. It’s a good thing you didn’t eat the salad, the vegetables in Afghanistan are beautiful and colorful and can make your stomach hurt.”
When the banquet ended, Karzai turned to the cabinet ministers and sarcastically told them: “Masculinity and cowardice appear in a second. Go home in peace. Calm down and go to the US Embassy tomorrow and say that we do not agree with Karzai.”
Note: I was one of the critics of some of Karzai's policies, and this part of my views is also recorded in history. I have no contact with him now. The last time we contacted was probably four years ago.