President Karzai and the Cobra Commander met today to talk about Afghanistan, the Taliban and they even (gasp!) took questions.
But about three questions in, it's obvious that Bush and Karzai didn't do so well at the rehearsal.
Here is Dubya's opening (emphasis mine):
I appreciate your stewardship. I appreciate your commitment to empowering your people. I appreciate your strong stance for freedom and justice, and I'm proud to call you an ally in this war against those who would wreak havoc in order to deny people a chance to live in peace.
We're working closely together to help the people of Afghanistan prosper. We work together to give the people of Afghanistan a chance to raise their children in a hopeful world. And we're working together to defeat those who would try to stop the advance of a free Afghan society.
Bush closed with comments about the amount of sucess they've had in Afghanistan, and what else needs to be done. Then he patty-caked Karzai, who returned the favor. Karsai ended with this:
But today I'm going to speak about only one achievement that means so much for the Afghan people, and surely to you and the rest of the world. That is that Afghanistan today, with the help that you have provided and our other allies have provided can save, is saving the life of at least 50,000 infants after they are born, and the life of 85,000 children under five.
Mr. President, when you and I begin to think of the mothers who can have their babies safe today, then we know the value and the importance of this achievement. And thank you very, very much for this tremendous help. Afghanistan would have not had 85,000 children living today had you not been there to help us with the rest of the world.
So the kids are gonna be alright, right?
Um...well, the Afghan press wanted to know, so...
Q I will ask in Pashto and then I will translate my question. My question is for Mr. Karzai. (Speaking Pashto.) I will repeat in English, too. Four years ago, in a press conference, Mr. President Karzai said Taliban do not pose any threat to Afghan people. So who do you think supported Taliban to threaten the security by doing kidnappings and taking the government officials, and why?
In answering, Karzai manages to spin, parse and flip-flop all in one response:
PRESIDENT KARZAI: Four years ago I did say that, and I continue to say that: The Taliban do pose dangers to our innocent people; to children going to school; to our clergy; to our teachers; to our engineers; to international aid workers. They are not posing any threat to the government of Afghanistan, they are not posing any threat to the institutions of Afghanistan, or to the build-up of institutions of Afghanistan. It's a force that's defeated; it's a force that is frustrated; it's a force that is acting in cowardice by killing children going to school.
Who is supporting them is a question that we have been working on for a long time, and since then. And I hope that the jirga between us and Pakistan will give us solutions to some of the questions that we have.
Bush said something too, but it added nothing to Karzai's response, so I'm not going to bother posting it.
But correct me if I'm wrong here; the reporter was asking if the people of Afghan safer now and Karzai, mere minutes after saying that babies have been rescued, responded with "The Taliban do pose dangers to our innocent people?" but not "the government of Afghanistan" or "the institutions of Afghanistan?" Who does he think makes up the government and institutions?
UPDATE: It didn't take long for the Taliban to test Karzai's comments.