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Q: Thank you. Yes, President Karzai has been described in a trove of secret diplomatic American cables as erratic, problematic; and by -- and described by the American ambassador as not a reliable ally. Are those assessments incorrect? And how embarrassing is this for the United States?
SECRETARY GATES: Well, I would say that the WikiLeaks and -- leak -- revelation of all of these documents is extraordinarily embarrassing for the United States. But at the end of the day, nations make -- and leaders make decisions based on their interests. And I would say that America's best partners and friends -- and I include among them President Karzai -- have responded to this, in my view, in an extraordinarily statesmanlike way. And I'm deeply grateful. And frankly, I think the American government will not forget this kind of statesmanlike response.
I think I also could say, with great confidence, President Karzai and I have been meeting together privately now for four years, and I don't think either of us would be embarrassed to have a single thing we have said to each other made public.
So this relationship will go on, because it's in our interests, and we have a shared vision for this country.
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Q As Secretary Gates indicated, U.S. and Afghan officials have both said that the training of Afghan security forces over the past year has gone better than projected. Does this mean that the government of Afghanistan could possibly take primary responsibility for its security before the end of 2014?
And President Karzai, could you explain further why you chose 2014 as a transition date? To what degree did this have any -- was this done to de-emphasize President Obama's promise to begin withdrawing U.S. forces this July?
SECRETARY: Well, first of all, I would say -- I think there's a certain misimpression that the transition to Afghan lead across the country will only take place at the end of 2014. First of all, this is a process that has already begun. The Afghan government and security forces already have the primary responsibility for security here in the Kabul area. And we expect to begin that transition, as NATO said, early next spring in other areas.
So this will be a process that spreads nationwide over time and will lead to a drawdown over that period of foreign forces in Afghanistan as the Afghans are able to take increasing lead. It will be gradual and it will be -- it will depend on the conditions on the ground.
But this is a process that will go on throughout this period, that's already begun, and that will conclude at the end of 2014. It isn't something that happens just at the end of 2014.
PRESIDENT KARZAI: (In English.) With regard to the abilities of the Afghan army and police, with regard to the training of the Afghan army, the number of soldiers that we have, the number of young officers under training and the older generation of officers, the country's doing very, very well.
Having said doing very, very well, we should not be misled by the facts today. Afghanistan would continue to require much more training, especially where we absolutely need to turn our army into an institution that can stay beyond the direct engagement of the international community, that can sustain itself as an institution, that has an officers cadre that is intellectually well equipped, that is -- that has settled down as an institution, like you have in the United States or Britain or India or, for that matter, Pakistan, as well.
Now, adding to this, of equal importance, I believe, is the equipping of the army. Right now we are equipped with vital weapons and the other day General Petraeus showed me in our regular weekly security meetings. I don't know, is that a secret, or is that supposed to be -- (laughter) -- okay -- showed me --
SECRETARY: Not anymore. (Laughs; laughter)
PRESIDENT KARZAI: Not anymore. Not anymore. Well, they shouldn't share things like that with presidents, you know. We are WikiLeaks -- we --. (Laughter.) That the Afghan army will be given thousands of armored vehicles and personnel-carrier vehicles.
Of course, for us to be a fundamentally strong country with an army that can defend itself and that can be an ally with you in the United States, we would require much more: a proper air power, proper mobility of our forces and an equipment that will be good enough to sustain our country as far as security is concerned.
On the 2014 date, this wasn't designed to preempt any other date. This was talked of as being the proper date by which we would have trained ourselves and equipped ourselves; proper enough so to take on the responsibility for securing our country.
(Cross talk.)
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Q: (Through translator.) From Bakhtar TV, my question is to Mr. Secretary.
You have -- you said the fight will be tough ahead and the next years you'll be fighting a tough war. But you said -- you've made progress, but you said difficult days are lying ahead, and after 2014, when the war would be tough, while Afghans wouldn't be ready by then completely, it's believed. Do you think that the Afghan forces would be able to reach that level of providing for its own capacity to stop any of those threats that could turn out to be a threat against the U.S.?
And Mr. President, in the WikiLeaks it's been said that as your chief of staff has admitted and has acknowledged receiving bags of cash from Iran, and they might have influenced even the parliament to change their subject of discussions as well.
SECRETARY: Well, first of all, I think that we have to understand that the future here is not just about military operations. It's about economic development, and it's about political reconciliation, at the end of the day.
We think, based on the progress that's been made over the past year, that the Afghan security forces are making extraordinary strides. And it's not just in the added numbers, but it's in the increased quality of our partners that we gain increased confidence.
As President Karzai said, over the next several years we need to work together in terms of properly equipping the Afghan forces so they will be able to sustain themselves. But I think -- I think the important thing -- first of all, I think we're -- we believe that the security situation will be improved to the extent that in 2014 the Afghan security forces will be able to have the lead, as they do here in Kabul, across the entire country.
I made reference in my prepared remarks to the 'vision 2015' agreement that we're working on. The United States intends to continue to be a partner and ally of Afghanistan beyond 2014. We expect the same kind of normal security relationship that we have with many countries in terms of providing training and in terms of equipping and so on. So the United States is -- while we will draw down our security forces over the years to come, we intend to be here and be a long-term friend and ally to this country.
PRESIDENT KARZAI: I didn't understand your question very well on -- (inaudible) -- contributions or cash. After Mr. Daudzai I admitted there were other reports that -- without the cash that your office admitted. There were other also cash assistance from Iran trying to influence the agenda -- the overall agenda in Afghanistan, including that in the parliament to raise subjects of and to -- (inaudible) -- subjects.
So it is -- is that -- are you talking about the other money that we said we had received? Okay. I don't think Mr. Daudzai, my chief of staff, has said anything like that. This is not true. There's no truth in this. Because Iran, as we said, once a year and recently twice a year, made some cash assistance. And no extra cash was made. If there was made any, we would certainly let you know. But no, it was just that.
And on the reports or your question about their assistance to the Afghan parliament, we have no official confirmation of such reports, I believe. And we treat them as rumors, and there is nothing -- no truth about whatever they have done to the president's office. |
