Hamid Karzai Quotes

Hamid Karzai delivers blunt warnings about foreign influence and urges a peaceful life.

52 quotes

1. Today, while celebrating the jihad victory, we once again invite those who have sided with aliens because of seduction against their nation, to give up sedition and evil and join peaceful life.

2. On my graduation there was a party by the junior students, and I was given a hair brush as a gift - if I take off my hat, you know what I mean.

3. When you see on the news or read in the newspaper that so many people were killed in places far away, do not let these numbers become mere abstractions to you. These are real people, like you and I. They are families, friends; they have pain, they have grief.

4. We must not turn away when we hear the cries of the hungry. We must not stand by when we see the killing and terrorizing of the innocent. We should not wait until hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of our fellow human beings have died as occurred in Afghanistan, before we act.

5. Every time we ignore the suffering of others or stand by and watch, we do not only act against our own interests but we violate a part of our humanity.

6. Suffering in other parts of the world will continue to undermine your security and prosperity unless you seek to address it.

7. If you don't fight these terrorist here ,you will have to fight them in your capitals in Europe and America and where not.

8. Lets admit that today's terrorists are a mutation of our past mistakes. We must learn our lessons. We must learn that using and nurturing extremism as a tool of government policy has never yielded the betterment of any nation, and it never will.

9. We Afghans have the right to stand with full dignity and self-confidence in front of the people of the world and say that this immortal phoenix, this beloved Afghanistan, once again rose from the ashes of invasion and subjugation; we have the right to declare to all those who aspire the destruction of our soil, that this country will never vanquish.

10. Democracy as a system of government may indeed be unprecedented in Afghanistan, but democracy as a way of life, a set of principles and values, is deeply embedded in our society.

11. Not very far from here stood two towers that symbolized freedom, prosperity and progress. Half way around the globe stood two magnificent Buddha's that represented a culture of tolerance and a nation with a rich history. These symbols have been linked together through the global scourge of terrorism. Terror may have demolished these physical structures, however it strengthens the willpower of the international community never to let down the spirit and determination with which these icons were built.

12. Let me tell the world that we Afghans today stand with full dignity and declare to the world that we are rising from the ashes of invasion and will live forever::

13. Democracy plays wonders.

14. We should deal with terrorism wherever it occurs. Wherever they are trained.

15. On behalf of the Afghan people, I pledge today that we will be a dependable asset to the security of the region and of the world.

16. Any effort to divide Afghanistan ethnically or weaken it will create exactly the same things in the neighboring countries. All the countries in this neighborhood have the same ethnic groups that we have, so they should know that it is a different ball game this time

17. The past is gone. We were unaware: The Soviets came, invaded us and we went out of Afghanistan to defend our country. We defended our country and that was right, but we made a mistake by leaving our country. It was one of the biggest mistakes we made, leaving the country.

18. The United States, Pakistan, Iran and everybody should know that this time Afghans will not become refugees. I would be one of those Afghans who would not become a refugee again.

19. It has to be very, very clear. That is why I am talking so clear. This is my conscience speaking, the conscience of an Afghan person.

20. We are bloody determined. It is not going to be Pakistan playing the Pashtun, non-Pashtun game in Afghanistan. It is not going to be Iran playing this or that game or any other country. We can play the same game with a lot more historical power, with a lot more power in our history than others can. They should know that very well.

21. In the past we suffered alone. This time everybody will suffer with us.

22. I Would Rather Fail and Be Honorable

23. politics without morality is close to sin

24. My job here is to try to move forward, keeping this very delicate jar of the Afghan peace process and reconstruction and institution building in my hands through troubled waters. Through minefields, through stormy conditions, through areas that don't have proper light and keep this jar intact and safe, and take it to the distant place. Along the way I may have to do things that some in the international community may not like. But I have my Afghan judgment and that is what I use. And that Afghan judgment does not need to be understood by the international community.

25. Now if the poppy income for Afghanistan is between $2 billion to $2.5 billion, when it reaches international markets it reaches $50 billion. So where is the rest of the money? Who benefits more? There is a lot of difference between 2.5 and 50. Where is that $48 billion going? And do you think that $48 billion will allow us to destroy poppy in Afghanistan?

26. My problem is that I am perhaps too much of a democrat for this time of the country's life. If you need a dictator, then go to the Afghan people. Let them elect a dictator. I am not one of those.

27. I am burning out. When I feel burned out I am immediately reminded of Frost's great poem: 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep/ But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep/ and miles to go before I sleep.' We have a lot of miles to go. A lot of miles to go. I think no Afghan president, even after my term is complete, will have an option on this account. I have to work very hard. You can't imagine how destroyed this country was. You can't imagine how dispirited this country had become. How miserable it had become. Unbelievable. When you go to the country, to the mountains where I was fighting the Taliban, I came across families and people who had nothing on earth. Nothing. And if they survived it worked. We have to provide them a better life. It will take time, it will take effort, and it will take very hard work. And no vacations.

28. Terrorism sees, in the prosperity of the Afghan people, its ultimate defeat.

29. There is no doubt that people are angry. When a family is hit by a bomb and I am the president here with the responsibility -- when a suicide bomb takes places and murders the people of this nation -- I am the president of this country and it is my responsibility to bring peace to these people.

30. They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.

31. If it is terrorism, if it is war on terror, then the Afghan people will join you on terror.

32. The capture of Saddam Hussein has proven to the bad ones, to the guilty ones, to the sinful ones that they cannot run forever. Sooner or later, the other criminals will also be found from their hideouts.

33. If the United States is treating Afghanistan as a sovereign country it has to prove it.

34. The people of Afghanistan will continue to remember his lasting friendship with the people of Afghanistan as well as his unstinting support during the years of jihad against the Soviets.

35. The West has been able to bring Afghanistan a much better health service, better education, better roads, a better economy, though some have benefited more; some have benefited less from that economic well-being in Afghanistan.

36. The fight, this war, this fight against the remnants of terrorism will go on for some time.

37. Once the Afghan people vote and they choose their President with direct, secret ballot from all over the country, there will be a lot of difference in this country and a lot of legitimate power to flow with implementation.

38. The holy book is implanted in the hearts and minds of all the Muslims. Humiliation of the holy book represents the humiliation of our people.

39. I don't think the Taliban will ever come back to take Afghanistan, no.

40. Afghanistan is a country in need. Afghanistan needs to protect itself in the region; Afghanistan needs to secure itself within the country. Afghanistan needs to develop its forces, and Afghanistan needs to provide stability to the people.

41. Terrorism, ladies and gentlemen, in my eyes I have a very, very, very simple explanation. Gangs of criminals, killers, used unfortunately by certain governments in the past for political purposes, who are on their own now as gangs.

42. Afghanistan has moved forward and Afghanistan will defend itself. And the progress that we have achieved, the Afghan people will not allow it to be put back or reversed.

43. Where liberty dies, evil grows.

44. People in Afghanistan want peace, including the Taliban. They're also people like we all are. They have families, they have relatives, they have children, they are suffering a tough time.

45. The war on terror, if this is a war on terror, can only be won by a sincere regional and international cooperation. All have to believe they have something at stake and work together. In the absence of this it will become political and interest-oriented.

46. This flag .. is raised not without costs, .. without the costs of having struggled for many years, without the costs of having lost so many lives in order to have a free and sovereign and good Afghanistan.

47. Afghanistan is very satisfied with Croatia's participation in the NATO-led peace mission and expects Croatia to expand its contribution to peace restoration in Afghanistan to other areas as well.

48. I don't think Osama is a Muslim. I don't think Osama is a human being.

49. The majority of the Afghan people support a strategic partnership with the United States.

50. We as the Afghan people and government are willing to help Pakistan work for peace in Afghanistan and work for peace in Pakistan, together.

51. No peace will arrive unless the U.S. or Pakistan want it.

52. No foreigner has a place asking another people, another country, to change their constitution.