Karzai Welcomes Afghan Drawdown

The New York Times reports:

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan welcomed the decision to withdraw more than 30, 000 American troops over the next year, calling it the “right decision for the interest of both countries.”

“The Afghan people’s trust in the Afghan Army and police is growing every day and preservation of this land is the job of Afghans,” Mr. Karzai said in remarks at a live broadcast Thursday morning.

But even as many senior Afghan officials echoed the president in supporting the withdrawal, local leaders and ordinary people expressed fears of civil war, renewed Taliban encroachments and even government collapse.

Afghan security officials and politicians, including Mr. Karzai, have tried to project an image of Afghan self-sufficiency even though in most places the Afghan National Army remains heavily reliant on NATO forces, which are dominated by Americans.