US general booted for Afghan remarks

'They don't understand the sacrifices that America is making,' he said of Afghan leaders 

MSNBC, NBC, Nov, 4, 2011

Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller  /  U.S. Army

WASHINGTON — A top U.S. general in Afghanistan was relieved of duty Friday for "inappropriate public comments" after calling the Afghan government "isolated from reality" and President Hamid Karzai "erratic."

Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, deputy commander for training Afghan security forces, blasted the Afghan government, military and Karzai in an interview with POLITICO published on Thursday.

He called Karzai "erratic" for recently saying Afghanistan would side with Pakistan if the latter declared war on the U.S.

"Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle!," Fuller was quoted as saying. "You’ve got to be kidding me … I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling me, 'I don’t really care'?"

Fuller also said he had trouble explaining to Afghan officials that Western funds were limited. 

"You guys are isolated from reality" he said he told Afghan generals. "If you're in a very poor country like Afghanistan, you think that America has roads paved in gold, everybody lives in Hollywood."

"I actually had someone senior tell me, 'All I want to do is put them [tanks] on a flat bed and drive them around in a parade'," he added.

Fuller said Afghan leaders "don't understand the sacrifices that America is making to provide for their security. And I think that's part of my job to educate 'em."

Fuller was relieved of duty by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen.

"The Afghan people are an honorable people, and comments such as these will not keep us from accomplishing our most critical and shared mission: bringing about a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan," Allen said in a statement.

Story: Cash flows, but can Afghan training legacy last?

It was not clear what Fuller would do next, but such disciplinary action usually ends military careers.

In June 2010, Gen. Stanley McChrystal resigned as the top U.S. officer in Afghanistan after disparaging remarks about civilian bosses in a Rolling Stone magazine article. He retired from the Army a month later and went on to teach at Yale University.

NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

Related Articles:

Shocking amount of money US spent on weapons after 9/11

How private firms have cashed in on the climate of fear since 9/11

"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."