The United States is troubled by comments Afghan President Hamid Karzai made in which he accused the West of trying to weaken him, Reuters quoted White House spokesman Robert Gibbs as saying today. "Obviously some of the comments of President Karzai are troubling. They're cause for real and genuine concern," Gibbs told reporters. Karzai accused the West on Thursday of trying to ruin Afghanistan's elections, intensifying a showdown with parliament over whether foreigners will oversee a parliamentary vote this year. President Barack Obama made a quick, unannounced trip to Afghanistan last weekend to visit U.S. troops and hold talks with Karzai. "We are seeking clarification from President Karzai about the nature of some of his remarks," Gibbs said. "And I think the President was quite clear with President Karzai over the weekend of the necessary steps that have to be taken to improve governance and corruption in order to deal with the problems that we face there," he said. Karzai's international reputation took a hit last year after a U.N.-backed fraud watchdog threw out a third of the votes cast for him in last year's presidential election. He is now wrangling with parliament and the United Nations over fraud protection measures for a parliamentary vote due in September.
