Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the President finds it “genuinely troubling” that Afghan President Hamid Karzai said last week that the West had tried to install a “puppet government” in Afghanistan.
According to reports, Karzai has continued to heavily criticize the U.S. for its involvement in Afghanistan, and said that the Taliban’s “revolt will change to resistance” if America keeps trying to control the Afghan government.
In the press conference, Gibbs said that Karzai’s remarks were “obviously not true.”
He also called Obama’s vist with Karzai last week “productive” and said Obama has kept talking about benchmarks — and insisting on progress.
Asked if the situation could erode American support for the war, Gibbs said people have a right to be frustrated.
“We’re frustrated,” he said.
Reporting by Christina Bellantoni.
