Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Says His Country Won't Be 'The Lazy Uncle Joe'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani thanked Congress on Wednesday for billions of American tax dollars and vowed his war-wracked country will be self-reliant within this decade.

"We're not going to be the lazy Uncle Joe," he said.

Ghani humbly thanked Congress for the nearly $107 billion it has appropriated for Afghanistan so far. He paid homage to the 2,200 U.S. servicemen and -women who lost their lives in the war and the thousands more who were wounded, and thanked the U.S. aid workers who built schools, wells and cured the sick.

"At the end of the day, it is the ordinary Americans whose hard-earned taxes have over the years built the partnership that has led to our conversation today," he said to applause in the House chamber packed with hundreds of lawmakers, dignitaries and guests.

Ghani, wearing a gray western suit, peppered his speech with anecdotes about the time he's spent in America, noting that he graduated from Columbia University in New York and was in his World Bank office in Washington when the first plane smashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Perhaps trying to shed his image as a technocrat, Ghani recalled that he "ate corned beef at Katz's, New York's greatest, greasiest, pickle-lined melting pot."

He touched on themes he hoped would convince lawmakers that he will be a reliable U.S. partner. He admitted that decades of war have resulted in high levels of fraud and graft in Afghanistan and promised to eliminate corruption. Ghani also voiced support for women's rights and said he would emphasize law and justice and focus on self-reliance and economic development.

"We don't want your charity. We have no more interest in perpetuating a childish dependence than you have in being saddled with a poor family member who lacks the energy and drive to get out and find a job," Ghani said.

That's a tall order for Afghanistan.

More than a third of Afghans live below the poverty line and the nation's vast mineral resources remain virtually untapped. Afghanistan also is not at peace, and Ghani's efforts to lure the Taliban to reconciliation talks have not yet been fruitful. Just hours before he spoke, at least six people were killed and more than 30 were wounded in a suicide car bombing near the presidential palace in Kabul.   Read More at Huffingtonpost

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Says His Country Won't Be 'The Lazy Uncle Joe'