Biden to Karzai: US Could Stay Beyond 2014
Reuters reports:
The United States is not in Afghanistan to "govern," but will stay beyond a scheduled 2014 security handover if Afghans want, visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday.
Seeking to reassure the Afghan leader, who has accused Washington in the past of meddling, Biden said Afghans were capable of building their own institutions and the United States was not in the war-torn country to "nation-build."
"We are not leaving if you don't want us to leave. We plan on continuing to work with you and it's in the mutual self-interest of both nations," he said.
The visit was Biden's first trip to Afghanistan as vice president. He has been openly critical of Karzai in the past, questioning the Afghan leader's credibility as a partner and accusing him of doing little to tackle corruption.
