[In the American threat
advisory issued Wednesday, General Dunford expressed concerns about the strain
between the countries, saying, “We’re at a rough point in the relationship.” He
said the contretemps could encourage insurgents, given that the Taliban and
other groups “are also watching and will look for a way to exploit the
situation — they have already ramped up for the spring.”]
By Alissa J. Rubin and Rod Nordland
 |
Shah Marai/Agence France-Presse —
Getty Images
President Hamid Karzai’s statements
have drawn criticism within his
country and from the United States.
|
KABUL, Afghanistan — The American commander in Afghanistan quietly told his forces to
intensify security measures on Wednesday, issuing a strongly worded warning
that a string of anti-American statements by President Hamid Karzai had put
Western troops at greater risk of attack both from rogue Afghan security forces
and from militants.
The order came amid a
growing backlash against Mr. Karzai’s public excoriation of the United States,
including a speech on Tuesday in which he suggested that the government might
unilaterally act to ensure control of the Bagram Prison
if the United States delayed its handover.
An array of Afghan
political leaders issued a joint statement criticizing Mr. Karzai and saying
his comments did not reflect their views. And though American military and
diplomatic officials have mostly refrained from replying publicly to Mr.
Karzai’s criticism, in private they have expressed concerns that relations
between the allies had reached a worrisome low point right at a critical point
in the war against the Taliban.
Frustration with Mr.
Karzai was clear in the alert, known as a command threat advisory, sent on
Wednesday by Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. to his top commanders. “His remarks
could be a catalyst for some to lash out against our forces — he may also issue
orders that put our forces at risk,” the advisory read.
Senior American military
officials confirmed that a copy of the advisory obtained by The New York Times
was genuine, although they said it had not been intended to be released
publicly. While threat advisories are circulated routinely, one directly from
the commanding general is unusual, one Western official said.
The threat advisory
specifically mentioned Mr. Karzai’s comments about Bagram Prison, calling it an
“inflammatory speech,” and warning commanders to be on guard against heightened
insider attacks by Afghan forces against Westerners, as well as opportunistic
Taliban violence. The order came after a recent rise in violence, including an insider attack that killed two American
servicemembers and a bombing that struck the capital just after
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived for a visit last week.
Brig. Gen. Stephen M.
Twitty, the head of communications for the military here, said that a more
general threat advisory would normally have gone out in April, but was sent
early because of recent events. “This is prudent,” he said. “It’s making sure
the force is seeing the same thing we’re seeing. It’s our job to alert the
force.”
Mr. Karzai’s latest
comments, in the southern province of Helmand, came after weeks of increased
tension over his public comments about the United States, including banning
Special Operations forces from a critical province and, on Sunday, suggesting
that the Taliban and the United States were in effect colluding to keep each
other in Afghanistan.
His harsh stance has
been widely taken as an attempt to improve his domestic political image by
appealing to Afghan sovereignty. But the comments have led to a furious
backlash among some of the Afghan leader’s past supporters in Congress, and
among his political opponents — and even some allies — within Afghanistan.
In Washington, even
Republican members of Congress who had long been strong supporters of the
Afghan war and Mr. Karzai, were scathing in their denunciation of him in recent
days. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has visited Mr. Karzai
repeatedly and has long been involved with Afghanistan policy, expressed
“disgust and resentment” over the Afghan’s comments, in remarks quoted on Foreign Policy magazine’s Web site.
He added: “I am perfectly capable of pulling the plug on Afghanistan.”
That last statement was
an offhand reference to the negotiations now under way to determine the size
and shape of an American military presence in Afghanistan past 2014, and
perhaps to the billions in dollars of future American aid already committed to
the country.
One senior Obama
administration official said Wednesday that commanders on the ground were
taking appropriate steps given the circumstances. The official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations, said that many in the
administration were “obviously unhappy” with Mr. Karzai’s comments, but
insisted the latest tensions would do little to alter the current military
assistance plan for Afghanistan.
Still, some Afghan
leaders have expressed concern that American budgetary concerns, coupled with a
worsening political relationship between the countries, could lead the United
States to reduce or even remove its support.
In Kabul, both Afghan
vice presidents met with Mr. Karzai for two hours Wednesday morning, while a
group of representatives from 14 political parties — most of them opposition
groups but several with members in government — held a news conference to
denounce the president’s stance.
“All these remarks may
destroy our relations with the international community, and especially America,
and lead to the isolation of Afghanistan again,” said Faizullah Zaki, the
spokesman for Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, the powerful Uzbek leader and warlord
who campaigned for Mr. Karzai in his 2009 election and later fell out with him.
“We are calling on the president to stop doing this because we believe it is
not in our national interest.”
In the American threat
advisory issued Wednesday, General Dunford expressed concerns about the strain
between the countries, saying, “We’re at a rough point in the relationship.” He
said the contretemps could encourage insurgents, given that the Taliban and
other groups “are also watching and will look for a way to exploit the
situation — they have already ramped up for the spring.”
In the latest outbreak
of violence, which Afghan officials attributed to the Taliban, a suicide bomber
on Wednesday targeted a crowd after a match of buzkashi, or Afghan polo, in
northern Kunduz Province. The attack killed the police chief, Abdul Qayoum
Ibrahimi, his son, his father and seven other people. Mr. Ibrahimi was the
brother of the speaker of the Afghan Parliament, Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, and of
Abdul Latif Ibrahimi, a presidential adviser. They were not present, but their
father was also among the dead.
Sharifullah Sahak and Sangar Rahimi contributed
reporting from Kabul, and Matthew Rosenberg from Washington.
