White House: Karzai meeting still on

President Barack Obama’s top national security advisers said Friday
that next month’s meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai is still a
go despite Karzai’s “troubling” statements in recent days.

National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones told reporters that
Karzai “did not intend to create any damage to the relationship” when
he accused the U.S. and other Western nations of fraud in last year’s
Afghan presidential elections.

{mosads}Jones told reporters aboard Air Force One that Obama sent a letter
to Karzai this week “basically recommitting ourselves to the success of
our operation and our partnership and looks forward to greeting him in
Washington to continue that progress.”

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has repeatedly called
Karzai’s comments “troubling,” and he hinted earlier this week that the
invitation to Washington to meet with Obama could be rescinded.

But Jones said Friday: “There’s no modification to that [invitation] whatsoever.”

Obama,
who was returning to Washington from Prague on Friday, said in an
interview on “Good Morning America” that Karzai is a “critical” partner
to U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. But the White House has sent mixed
messages about how reliable a partner Karzai is.

Gibbs this week refused to characterize Karzai as an ally of the U.S.

But
Jones expressed confidence in what Karzai’s role as a partner will be,
saying he thinks Karzai “will prove himself over time as we tackle all
of these important issues to be very reliable and is very appreciative
of everything that we’re doing.”

“But this is not easy and there are times when in the region he
probably is provoked in one way or the other to make certain statements
that can be misinterpreted,” Jones said.

Obama and his aides
have suggested that Karzai has made his comments to satisfy domestic
political concerns, and Jones went as far to say that “the matter is
really behind us now.”