KABUL - The war on terrorism – so declared by America after terrorist attacks on US soil in 2001 – has not been conducted as it should have been, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Karzai released a statement the evening of September 11 saying that although the US-led international forces were "embraced and welcomed with a smile" in Afghanistan 11 years ago, they are not effectively combating terrorism and greater threats are emerging.
His comments are in stark contrast to those of US President Barack Obama whose comments on the anniversary said that America was safer than before.
Karzai pointed out that it was the September 11 attacks that brought the international military intervention to Afghanistan.
"However, the war declared on terrorism was not conducted and pursued as it should have been," he said. "The main sources of training and support for terrorism located outside our borders remained completely ignored and unaddressed, as a consequence of which Afghan villages and homes were once again turned into a battlefield of a ruthless war inflicting irrecoverable losses."
Karzai warned that unless the approach of the war changes, not only will terrorism not be eliminated, but new adversities affecting the entire world will emerge.
He said that the people of Afghanistan understand better than anyone the pain and suffering of the American people as they are victims of terror as well.
The 9/11 attacks in the US killed nearly 3,000 people after four passenger airliners were hijacked by al-Qaeda members and deliberately crashed into major landmarks in New York and the capital Washington D.C.
Less than one month later, the US-led war in Afghanistan was launched on the basis of capturing al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who was living in Afghanistan at the time, ostensibly under the protection of the Afghan government at the time – the Taliban.
Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Pakistan on May 2 last year.
Meanwhile, in America, Obama said that the US was safer as a result of the Afghan war and the death of bin Laden.
"Our country is safer and our people are more resilient," he said Tuesday at a memorial at the Pentagon – a site struck by one of the hijacked jets.
Obama acknowledged that most of the 9/11 victims had never heard of al-Qaeda, and even less, had known that it was an enemy.
"And yet, it's because of their sacrifice that we've come together and dealt a crippling blow to the organization that brought evil to our shores. Al-Qaeda's leadership has been devastated and Osama bin Laden will never threaten us again," he said.
Obama said the war in Afghanistan – the longest in US history – will be over for the Americans by 2014. (Tolo News)