Here is the letter he should have written:
His Excellency
Hamid Karzai
President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
KabulDear Mr. President:
Our “mission” in Afghanistan is pointless. It will never be a stable, pluralistic republic. We have lost thousands of lives and wasted billions of dollars, and the Islamic supremacists of the Taliban are stronger than ever. You have even invited them to participate in elections and in the government, only reinforcing how pointless our mission is there.
What’s more, you have done nothing to stop the ongoing jihad attacks by your own forces and/or jihadis who have infiltrated those forces against the American troops who are training them. Enough. I will not be responsible for the wanton shedding of more American blood in pursuit of the fantasy of Afghanistan as a reliable U.S. ally.
You want any more American aid? Put your military at girls’ schools, to stop them from being blown up. Encourage the education of women. Protect their equality of rights. Contact that last remaining Afghan Jew. Give him police protection, and encourage him to invite his family and other Afghan Jewish exiles back into the country. Provide protection for the remaining Afghan Hindus, and encourage Afghan non-Muslim exiles to come back. They will enrich your country far more than American dollars could ever do.
But if and only if you protect women’s rights and religious minorities, you can have those dollars as well — at least a few.
We are leaving immediately, but will continue to strike against jihad terror training camps and other facilities when necessary.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
P.S.: Don’t expect any more bags of cash from the CIA, either.
Here is what he actually wrote:
His Excellency
Hamid Karzai
President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
KabulDear Mr. President:
I am pleased that we have reached agreement on the text of a Bilateral Security Agreement that will enable the United States and Afghanistan to implement the promise of our Strategic Partnership. This is a strong agreement for both our countries, which provides the foundation to continue our cooperation to build a better future for Afghanistan. It provides the basis for cooperating in a new context after 2014, when the International Security Assistance Force mission will have ended, the number of U.S. forces will be much reduced, and a sovereign Afghanistan will be responsible for its security, with the support of the international community. In that new context, America’s role in Afghanistan will be one of a supporting partner. Under this Agreement, we will be cooperating in training, advising, and assisting your forces and in a targeted, smaller counterterrorism mission as we continue to help strengthen Afghanistan’s own growing counterterrorism capabilities. We look forward to concluding this agreement promptly.
“We will be cooperating in training, advising, and assisting your forces” — i.e., there will continue to be green-on-blue attacks.
I know that you have been concerned for some time to limit the impact of the conflict in Afghanistan on the Afghan people, with particular attention to the sensitive issue of the safety and privacy of people in their homes. Over time, and especially in the recent past, we have redoubled our efforts to ensure that Afghan homes are respected by our forces and that our operations are conducted consistent with your law. We will continue to make every effort to respect the sanctity and dignity of Afghans in their homes and in their daily lives, just as we do for our own citizens.
Except for when we subject our own citizens to massive, relentless surveillance based on our unwillingness to admit the nature of the actual threat we face, requiring us in turn to pretend that the threat comes from everyone equally.
Many of my countrymen and women have given their lives or been seriously wounded in the pursuit of protecting Afghans, and we honor the enormous sacrifices they have made, side by side with Afghans.
Many of my countrymen and women have given their lives or been seriously wounded by their Afghan “allies” they were “side by side with” in the “pursuit of protecting Afghans.”
As this new Agreement states, U.S. forces shall not enter Afghan homes for the purposes of military operations, except under extraordinary circumstances involving urgent risk to life and limb of U.S. nationals.
U.S. forces shall, however, continue to serve as a shooting gallery for our putative Afghan “allies.”
The U.S. commitment to Afghanistan’s independence, territorial integrity, and national unity, as enshrined in our Strategic Partnership Agreement, is enduring, as is our respect for Afghan sovereignty.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama