Hillary Clinton makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

[maddezmom]

Source: CNN

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Kabul Wednesday in a surprise visit on the eve of the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai.

Clinton went straight into a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, before having dinner with Karzai.

Her first visit to Afghanistan as secretary of state comes as President Obama is deciding whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, as requested by McChrystal.

Clinton will attend Karzai's Thursday inauguration to a second term, showing U.S. support for his government, after an election which was tainted by fraudulent balloting.

Karzai is under intense international pressure to clean up corruption within his government, and Clinton is expected to deliver a tough message on the need to show results.



Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/18/clinton.afghanistan/