President Barack Obama says Afghan’s President Hamid Karzai has made progress in cleaning up corruption “but there’s a long way to go.”
In an interview broadcast on Tuesday, Mr. Obama tells NBC television that he chose not to visit Afghanistan at the time he announced a troop surge last year because elections were under way and he didn’t want to be seen as “parachuting in and changing the outcomes there.”
He said he visited on Sunday because he wanted to show support for the troops.
Mr. Obama said of Mr. Karzai: “I think he’s listening, but I think the progress is too slow. What we are trying to emphasize is the fierce urgency of now.” He said Mr. Karzai “made important steps” to improve life for Afghans but that we “can’t dilly—dally around.”
