Politics & Power Quote by Hamid Karzai

Karzai’s line does two things at once: it shrinks terrorism down to something legible, and it quietly shifts the blame map. The triple-stacked “very, very, very simple” is not just verbal tics; it’s a political instrument. In a region where every faction carries its own narrative of martyrdom, grievance, and ideology, “simple” is a bid to strip militants of mystique. Call them “gangs of criminals, killers” and you deny them the status of insurgents, patriots, or holy warriors. You make them prosecutable, not debatable.

The subtext lands in the middle clause: “used unfortunately by certain governments in the past for political purposes.” Karzai is pointing without naming. In the Afghanistan of his presidency, the plausible targets are Pakistan’s security establishment, Cold War patronage networks, and the long history of proxy warfare that turned armed groups into tools and then into actors with their own agendas. “Unfortunately” is diplomatic cushioning; “certain governments” is strategic ambiguity. He needs to accuse, but he also needs doors left open, aid packages intact, borders passable.

Then comes the pivot: “who are on their own now.” That’s a narrative of blowback. It implies states once had levers of control, lost them, and now face the consequences. For Karzai, it’s also a plea for international audiences: don’t treat this as ancient ethnic destiny or abstract extremism. Treat it as the predictable outcome of policy choices, and of letting armed clients metastasize. The rhetoric isn’t elegant, but it’s calibrated for a presidency lived between militants, neighbors, and patrons.