Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday said he wanted “at least $2 billion” a year from the United States after it withdraws its troops in 2014.
Karzai said the US should specify in a partnership agreement to be signed between his country and the US how much money it will give to Afghanistan after they leave. “They (US) say we will give you money, but will not specify the amount. We say give us less, but write it down,” Karzai told a group of university professors and students in Kabul. “We want them to write down that America will give for Afghanistan’s security $2 billion a year — or at least two billion a year”, he said. “If they want to give us more, they are welcome.” Karzai’s comments came a day after he laid most of the blame for an 18-hour assault by squads of Taliban insurgents in Kabul Sunday on intelligence failures by NATO forces. “The terrorists’ infiltration in Kabul and other provinces is an intelligence failure for us and especially for NATO and should be seriously investigated,” Karzai said in a statement.