Former Afghanistan president slams US-led military campaign as a failure ahead of planned withdrawal

The former president of Afghanistan has lambasted the United States military effort in his country, saying the mission failed to achieve any of the goals it set out nearly 20 years ago when it arrived. 

Karzai claimed that extremism is at its "highest point" ahead of the planned drawdown of U.S. forces from his country and that the U.S. had failed to live up to its promises.  "The international community came here 20 years ago with this clear objective of fighting extremism and bringing stability ... but extremism is at the highest point today," Karzai said during an interview with the Associated Press. "So they have failed."