Is he high?

Via CSM:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai marked the 12th anniversary of theUS-led NATO invasion of Afghanistan 12 years ago that dislodged the Taliban from power and ended up installing him as leader by saying that Afghan women have nothing to fear from a return ofTaliban influence and that nothing has been really gained thanks to the foreign military effort in the country.

Karzai’s remarks come as the clock is ticking on a so-called Bilateral Security Agreement to be inked between NATO and Afghanistan. If an agreement isn’t reached, including guarantees that US forces won’t be subject to Afghan law, all US troops will depart from the country at the end of next year. While there’s still time for a deal to be reached, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said in July that an agreement any later than October would make planning for an ongoing mission beyond the end of 2014 much more difficult.

But Karzai’s comments today to the BBC’s Newsnight weren’t exactly outreaching, and makes one wonder if he’s not interested in retaining the services of foreign soldiers. He’s tried to use the drawn out negotiation over the BSA to wring more aid and weaponry out of the US, as well as far-reaching security guarantees. But with a war-weary American public and fights over the US budget deficit at home for Obama, walking away from Afghanistan becomes more likely with each passing day and insult tossed at the US and its partners.

Today Karzai complained that the US administration’s descriptions of his government as an “ineffective partner” is because the US “want us to keep silent when civilians are killed. We will not, we can not.” […]

The Afghan President, asked if Afghan women should have any fear about a possible entry of the Taliban into government, answered: “None. Note at all.”