““Karzai stands in relation to the Afghanistan War as Ngo Dinh Diem stands in relation to the Vietnam War: His credentials as a nationalist untainted by corruption but with a Western orientation made him in Washington’s eyes a seemingly ideal partner. In the 1950s, the Eisenhower administration had sought to use President Diem as its agent in creating a Republic of Vietnam compatible with U.S. national security interests. In the 2000s, the Bush administration sought to use Karzai for similar purposes. Much to their subsequent consternation, U.S. military and civilian officials soon enough discovered, as they had four decades earlier with Diem, that Karzai had a mind of his own.””
![“The [George W.] Bush administration tripled its aid package to Afghanistan. [Hamid] Karzai finally (and courageously) announced that warlords will be forbidden from holding office in the future government. And finally, NATO agreed to expand the peacekeeping forces to troubled areas outside of Kabul.” quote by Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4e3/khaled-hosseini-251_administration_the-george-w-bush-administration-tripled_2968888.jpg)
![“[John F. Kennedy] kept a diary and in the White House dictated his thoughts. He felt real guilt at the killing of [Ngo Dinh] Diem, the leader of South Vietnam.” quote by Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/772/chris-matthews-1682_diaries_john-f-kennedy-kept-a-diary-and-in-the-w_2483423.jpg)
