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So: the failure of eradication. Now I want my partners in the international community to concentrate strongly on bringing security for Afghanistan by all the means available. If we continue to do this on the cheap we will never succeed. That means provide great support to the Afghan institution building, the army and the police. Give us what we want and listen to us. Listen to us the way we are asking for it. Do it the way we are asking for it. In other words, Afghanize the process. Let Afghanistan take charge day by day. Better than the previous days, more than the previous days. Second, have a clear alternative livelihoods program. That means economic development. Strong, effective economic development. Third, continue with patience, no quick fixes in here. We have to do that for us to succeed. Other than that we will keep going in this vicious circle of eradicating and coming up again with crops. Eradicating again and coming up with crops. More eradication, more crops.
TIME: President Karzai, let me ask you about your own style of governance. A number of people have said that one of the best things about you is that you consult with a wide range of Afghans, people within your government, your cabinet...
Karzai: I am criticized for that.
TIME: At the same time there are a number of people who have said that is the wrong approach. You are too nice to be leading the country in this way in this time. Do you think you are too nice?
Karzai: Well it's not bad to be nice. It's a very good thing to be nice. But look. What was the problem in Afghanistan? Why did Afghanistan fall to terrorism and the trouble that caused you trouble as well in the rest of the world? The trouble was twofold. Bickering within Afghanistan between various groups fighting amongst each other. And interference from outside. The two brought the circumstances that brought the destruction of the twin towers and bombs around the world, and Afghanistan falling victim to terrorism the way it did. So my first job was to bring the country back together. To bring a sense here in Afghanistan that this country belongs to all. All the groups that came with the Soviet invasion, with the communists, relied on exclusivity. They were exclusive, they were only for themselves, and they did not allow other Afghans. They either killed other Afghans, or chased them away or imprisoned them.
Unfortunately the mujheddin organizations, when they came they began to fight each other. Again, some form of exclusivity. The Taliban did even worse. They chased every other Afghan away. That's why there were more refugees during the time of the Taliban than any other time in the past. Bring in all of this mess the massive foreign presence that brought terrorism and extremism and al-Qaeda and all forms of religious extremism that caused eventually terrorism in Afghanistan. When I came my first job was to make this country home for all Afghans. And I did that. I am very proud of that. Very proud. Under my rule this country belongs to all Afghans. And I was proven right by the Afghan people as well. Because in the parliamentary elections the Afghan people voted for all assortment of politics and personalities. We have the Taliban here in the parliament—some of them won their votes, some of them didn't—we have the former mujheddin, the former communists, we have the seculars, the religious, the capitalists, the communists, we have all of them sitting in the Afghan parliament, the Afghan people voted for them. And everybody came back home, from his majesty, the father of the nation, to the jihadi leaders, to the former communists, to the refugees in Europe and America. All of them came back. And that's great. Now if I adopt a style of not consulting, and of doing it alone, the country will not have the kind of harmony it has today. I will not abandon this style of government. I will continue to do it. But where I need to take action against certain issues, certain individuals who are doing wrong for the country, I will again consult and act upon it. 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.