Former Iranian president Khatami criticizes troops in Afghanistan

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Foreign troops are fanning unrest in Afghanistan while failing to reduce poverty, Iran's former president Seyed Mohammad Khatami said Tuesday. Speaking at a Canberra university, Khatami likened US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan to a man who finds that the more he cuddles a baby, the more it cries. "Someone came and told him to just leave the baby alone: 'It will be quiet, it's your face that's the real problem,'" Khatami said through an interpreter. "Some troops are coming all the way from the other side of the world there in order to establish peace and security: We tell them to just leave them alone, they will not cry," he added.