White House Waves White Flag

Exit Operation Enduring Freedom

by

thelastcrusade.org

Speaking as Western leaders gathered in Kabul for Thursday’s swearing-in of President Hamid Karzai,  US President Barack Obama said his forthcoming announcement about the war in Afghanistan will include his intent for a complete troop withdrawal in the immediate future.

“I am confident that when I announce my decision the American people will have a lot of clarity about what we are doing, how we are going to succeed… and most importantly what’s the endgame on this thing,” he told CNN.

“Unless you impose that kind of discipline it could end up leading to a multiyear occupation that won’t serve the interests of the United States,” the president said.

Mr. Obama added that he was determined to bring the war to an end before leaving office, though he was not asked if he expected that to be after 2012 or 2016.

“My preference would be not to hand off anything to the next president. One of the things I’d like is the next president to be able to come in and say I’ve got a clean slate,” he said.

Mr. Obama’s abrupt remarks regarding a “clean slate” has raised concerns among allies that setting a limit on American military involvement would encourage the Taliban to lie low until US troops have pulled out, rather than forcing them to come to terms with the Karzai government.

A Western diplomat told the Daily Telegraph: “Reconciliation is more likely to happen if the Talibs realize that they cannot simply wait you out. A short term surge that makes you look weak once you draw down from it is potentially an incentive to a war of attrition.”

Gen Stanley McChrystal, the commander of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, has asked for 40,000 additional troops to mount a full counter-insurgency campaign against the Taliban militias, but also presented options for 15,000 to 20,000 troops. Despite his keenness for a way out, Mr Obama will almost certainly be sending large numbers of young Americans into battle for several more years.

The president brushed off criticism that his decision-making has been so slow that it has damaged troop morale, saying that he was “very close” to making his decision public though that could still take “several weeks”.

In Kabul, foreign envoys, including Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, and Asif Ali Zadari, Pakistan’s president, have announced their plans to attend the inauguration for Mr Karzai’s second term.

The Afghan capital will be under strict security with the event expected to be a target for a Taliban attack.