US Ambassador To Afghanistan Gov't "Stop Calling Us Occupiers!"

The Afghan Government tries to have it both ways. On one hand they are happy that the United States is there to protect their fledgling government and to stop the Taliban from taking over, on the the other their leadership continually trashes the American Heroes protecting their country.  Just this past Saturday Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai delivered a televised speech accusing the  U.S.-led foreign troops of being in the country “for their own national interests.”

Without mentioning Karzai by name, US Ambassador Afghanistan,  Karl  Eikenberry made his own speech on Sunday, blasting the  increasingly harsh anti-coalition rhetoric emanating from the president, calling it “hurtful and inappropriate.” The ambassador, made the remarks at the end of a speech on the future of U.S.-Afghan relations, delivered to several hundred students at Herat University, but the message was meant for Karazi an his team:

“When Americans, who are serving in your country at great cost in terms of lives and treasure, when they hear themselves compared with occupiers, told that they’re only here to advance their own interest, and likened to the brutal enemies of the Afghan people, my people in turn are filled with confusion and they grow weary of our effort here,” Eikenberry said

Eikenberry said those comments left him ashamed and speechless in front of the relatives of U.S. war dead.

"When I hear some of your leaders call us occupiers, I cannot look at these mourning parents, spouses, and children in the eye and give them a comforting reply," Eikenberry told an audience of students and academics at Herat University in western Afghanistan.

"When we hear ourselves being called occupiers and worse, our pride is offended and we begin to lose our inspiration to carry on," he added

The Ambassador's comments are long past due. Karazai's statement on Saturday was simply the latest in a long line of anti-American comments made by the Afghan President:

But Karzai's spokesman said some of the president's comments had been misunderstood and warned against "over-reacting" to constructive criticism, saying that Afghan people standing up for their own interests should not be dubbed offensive.

Sure why is it offensive that our heroes are in Afghanistan dying so Karzai's arse will be protected and in return all they get is trash talk.

A video of Eikenberry's comments follows (if you cannot see video click here)