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07/04/2004:

"Karzai Accepts Philadelphia Liberty Medal**"

by Patrick Walters Guardian UK

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Hamid Karzai, the U.S.-backed leader of Afghanistan who took over after the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, accepted the Philadelphia Liberty Medal on Sunday at a ceremony at Independence Hall.

Karzai broke with the Taliban in 1995 and was appointed to lead his country after the U.S.-led invasion aimed at evicting the Taliban and tracking down Osama bin Laden.

``We have paid for it with our lives and we will defend it with our lives,'' Karzai said.

The medal's $100,000 prize will go to support Afghan orphans, he said.

The award, first presented in 1989, is given each July 4 by the nonprofit, nonpolitical Philadelphia Foundation to recognize leadership in the pursuit of freedom. The selection of Karzai was announced in May.

Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, before presenting the medal, said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and other recent events have led Americans to understand the importance of promoting democracy worldwide.

``Your fight is our fight. Your people are our people. And your future is our future,'' Street told Karzai.full article

Here is the Nicaraguan Contras' successor to the title 'moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers'.Did he accept the medal on behalf of Unocal, the energy corporation he worked for before he became President and signed the pipeline deal with them? Well at least the prize money will go to orphans created by American aggression. He won the medal for "pursuing freedom," which is far more difficult than the pursuit of Osama bin Laden. Poor Afghanistan.