US Ambassador Warns Against Afghanistan Troop Surge

[tekisui]

Source: Times Online

The US ambassador to Afghanistan has dramatically intervened in the debate about troop reinforcements, warning President Obama against committing tens of thousands of extra troops to the country.

Karl Eikenberry, a retired army general who commanded US forces in Afghanistan from 2005-2007, detailed his concerns in two classified cables last week.

Yesterday President Obama questioned Mr Eikenberry about his views by video-link during a meeting of his White House war cabinet, as he continues his lengthy deliberations on the question of troop numbers for Afghanistan.

Mr Eikenberry's concerns reportedly focused on the behaviour of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president recently re-elected for a five-year term in a poll tainted by allegations of systematic fraud. He is said to have questioned Mr Karzai's suitability as a long-term strategic partner, because of widespread corruption in his first administration and the presence of warlords and drugs smugglers in positions of influence.

The warnings are being seen by analysts as a shot across Mr Karzai's bows, as he puts together his government before he is inaugurated for his second term on November 19.

The timing and content of Mr Eikenberry's intervention has reportedly infuriated General Stanley McChrystal, the Nato and US commander in Afghanistan, who had asked for an extra 40,000 troops to avert a looming military defeat.

more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6913759.ece

[mmonk]

1. Graveyard of would be conquerors.

[malaise]

2. Mr Eikenberry is not just your average Ambassador

He's a West Point trained general who has no fear of McChrystal.

Don't rule out a McChrystal resignation by weekend.
Time for Obama to clean up the Pentagon boys and stamp his authority on these institutions. They still work for him and not the reverse.

[tekisui]

3. Eikenberry may end up being a hero.

Obama said to want revised Afghanistan options

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama won't accept any of the Afghanistan war options before him without changes, administration officials say, amid an argument by his own ambassador in Kabul that a significant U.S. troop increase would only prop up a weak, corruption-tainted government.

Obama's ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, who is also a former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, is voicing strong dissent against sending more troops, according to an administration official. This puts him at odds with the current war commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who wants thousands more troops.

Eikenberry's misgivings center on a concern that bolstering the American presence in Afghanistan could make the country more reliant on the U.S., not less. He expressed them in forcefully worded cables to Washington just ahead of Obama's latest war meeting Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091112/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_afghanistan;_ylt=AgEId3O3IcTM.0wITlybg72s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJ2YmtjbW1kBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTEyL3VzX3VzX2FmZ2hhbmlzdGFuBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDb2JhbWFzYWlkdG93

[malaise]

4. Yep I agree with you

:hi: