President Karzai Addresses the United Nations General Assembly
On September 20, President Karzai addressed the UN General Assembly and praised the UN’s role in facilitating international cooperation, particularly in Afghanistan. President Karzai recounted the steps Afghanistan has made in its post-war transition and celebrated last year’s inauguration of Afghanistan’s National Assembly, which marked the completion of the development of the three independent branches of a democratic state. President Karzai also welcomed the international community’s continued political, military and financial assistance through the signing of the Afghanistan Compact at the London Conference.
The President focused on terrorism both in Afghanistan and in the Asia as a whole. He said, “Terrorism does not emanate from within Afghanistan; Afghanistan is its worst victim. Military action in Afghanistan alone, therefore, will not deliver our shared goal of eliminating terrorism. We must look beyond Afghanistan to the sources of terrorism. We must ensure that political currents and entities in the region are not allowed to use extremism as an instrument of policy.” The President pledged that a secure, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan would contribute to the progress of her region and to global security as a whole.
