World

Obama war cabinet finalises Afghan review

Focus on reinforcing Pakistan’s efforts to crackdown on al Qaeda.

Afp December 15, 2010

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama finalised his Afghan strategy review with his war cabinet on Tuesday.

Participating, either in person or by teleconference, were Vice-President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, CIA Director Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen, US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, Army Gen David Petraeus, the top ground commander in Afghanistan, and other military and diplomatic officials.

Terming the hard-charging Holbrooke a giant icon of US diplomacy, Obama said that his war plan must now go ahead without input from the man masterminding a civilian “surge” in Afghanistan.

This week’s review will be watched carefully in Congress, where members of the Democratic Party are growing restless about the war.

The Obama administration, according to one Western diplomat, had “gotten better” at consulting allies on Afghanistan. A vital plank of Obama’s new strategy was also reinvigorating Pakistan’s efforts to crackdown on al Qaeda.

Obama’s report will be closely parsed for its stance towards Islamabad after an administration report to Congress this year charged that its forces were avoiding “direct conflict”.

Since then, Obama has sacked his former top war general Stanley McChrystal for insubordination, seen his administration wage public spats with Karzai and traveled twice to Afghanistan. But the review may leave fundamental questions unanswered: including; are US gains sustainable? Will Afghan forces merge into a true fighting force? Will the Taliban simply outwait foreign soldiers?

With additional input from Reuters and UPI

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (2)

G.Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Very ligitimate question at the end that US Administration, Congress, Army, CIA, and other respective Institutions must ask that almost 10 years in Afghan War " are US gains sustainable? Will Afghan forces merge into a true fighting force? Will the Taliban simply outwait foreign soldiers?" My Answer is that just look at the ground reality and why THE US has to leave? It was the zero sum game right from the day one. If US had sufficient gains, it would stay in Afghanistan. I would simply say that Taliban outweighted foreign soldiers. Just as before they did to Soviets or British Empire a little further back in history. Results of Afghan wars have not changed. They fight every invader til they subdue him. We all knew US will suffer the same fate however, it insisted of its SUPERPOWER status that They can do anything. It's the same Kind of syndrome that British and Soviets suffered before The US but SuperPowers fail to grab this simple reality that there is another SUPERPOWER in this Universe that WHICH when wants to teach a lesson to an Earthly SUPERPOWER and fix its EGO once for all , then IT Choose the weakest and poorest of all on earth to defeat that most Powerful one. And it is this defeat that remind HIS DEVINE SUPERIORITY AND HIS WORLD ORDER FOR TIMES TO COME.

Afzal Rahim Khan Yusufzai | 13 years ago | Reply Please remember the last word of Mr.Holbrooke. The Washington Post quoted family members as saying that as Holbrooke was sedated for surgery, his final words were to his Pakistani surgeon: “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”

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