Karzai, Frustrated, Wants Firm Pledges From U.S. Christoph Bangert for The New York Times President Hamid Karzai, who views the United States as an unreliable ally, is seeking a firm commitment on troop levels, as well as a mutual security pact. KABUL, Afghanistan - It was not until after the meeting of top security officials had ended, as President Hamid Karzai stood in a corridor with a handful of advisers, that his frustration with the United States boiled over. Washington's attempt to open peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar, he fumed, was "in reality an attempt to cut him out and make an American deal with the Taliban," according to one of the officials who saw the outburst. The Taliban's sudden willingness to talk in June looked like a potential coup for American diplomacy. The result has been anything but - and not just because the Taliban have done more grandstanding than negotiating since opening their Qatar office. Mr. Karzai quickly called off Afghan participation in the talks. And now, two weeks later, persuading him to restore his delegation would most likely take more than the United States would be willing deliver, according to Afghans familiar with his thinking. He wants a firm commitment on the number of American troops that would stay in Afghanistan past next year, and a lead role in peace efforts, the Afghans said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters. Mr. Karzai also wants a mutual security pact that would compel the United States to protect Afghanistan against Pakistan, and, possibly, even take direct military action against Taliban havens on Pakistani soil, they said. All of that is rooted in one of Mr. Karzai's core beliefs, according to those who know him: that the central challenge facing his government is not the Taliban insurgency, but rather in bringing the United States around to his way of thinking. "Assurances that America will take care of us will no longer do for the president," said the Afghan official who witnessed the president's outburst. To move forward, Mr. Karzai wants "certainties." The developments around the Qatar peace opening seemed to be ripped directly from Mr. Karzai's personal nightmare script: that his government would be marginalized in Washington's endgame in Afghanistan. He has long voiced suspicions about American-orchestrated Taliban talks, and he recently has told those around him that the Qatar process could result in a separate peace deal between the United States, the Taliban and the group's backers in Pakistan, and perhaps even his political opponents within Afghanistan as well. The fact that the Taliban have pointedly refused to say they would talk with Mr. Karzai's government even as they state their willingness to talk to the Americans has only reinforced his concerns. He made that clear on Saturday, when after meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain he told reporters that the two had discussed "the fact that foreigners should not use the Afghan peace process for their goals and objectives." Mr. Karzai's increasingly harsh response to American initiatives in recent years has struck some officials as verging on paranoia. But Afghans close to him say it is consistent with his view of the United States as an unreliable ally. Afghans have not forgotten how the United States during the 1990s effectively outsourced its Afghanistan policy to Pakistan, which then helped bring the Taliban to power. That perceived abandonment remains a staple of conversation among many here. Mr. Karzai has often told those close to him of going to Washington for help in the 1990s and "having doors slammed in his face - nobody cared," said another Afghan who has worked with him. "He's seen this movie before," the Afghan said. So when the Qatar announcement ran off-script, with the Taliban raising the flag and banner of a government in exile despite American promises that they would not, it was the Americans that Mr. Karzai sought to punish. First he broke off negotiations with the Americans on a long-term security agreement, then he boycotted the peace talks they had brokered. Though the offensive Taliban symbols have since been taken down, a senior State Department official said Wednesday that the Taliban are demanding that their Qatar office be identified as the political office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and that the sign with the name be restored. In any case, a member of the Afghan High Peace Council, Said Muhammad Amin Tariq, said that "removal of the flag and sign are not enough." Mr. Karzai wants more assurances. Sharifullah Sahak and Sangar Rahimi contributed reporting from Kabul, and Michael R. Gordon from Washington.