Obama Afghan decision to come after Thanksgiving

THE STANS

Karzai an 'unworthy partner': top US Democrat
Washington (AFP) Nov 20, 2009 - Calling Afghan President Hamid Karzai an "unworthy partner," a key Democratic leader warned Friday that Congress cannot fund an expanded military mission without a reliable ally in Kabul. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, said moreover she did not think there was political support for sending more US troops to Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama is contemplating. "How can we ask the American people to pay a big price in lives and limbs, and also in dollars, if we don't have a connection to a reliable partner?" said in an interview with National Public Radio. "So, you know, the whole thing is let's not just talk about troops. Let's talk about what is the strategy and what are the resources that are needed in that regard?"

Her comments reflected the deep discomfort among Obama's Democrats over calls by US military commanders for a major buildup in troops to stem a growing Taliban insurgency. The White House said a decision on whether to send more troops would not come until after the Thanksgiving holiday on November 26. Currently, there are some 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan, but the options under consideration are reported to range to up to more than 40,000 additional troops. Pelosi and other Democrats opposed a similar surge in US troops to Iraq two years ago, arguing at the time that more troops were needed in Afghanistan, the main front against Al-Qaeda.

Pelosi acknowleged that since then the conflict in Afghanistan has become more pervasive, reaching parts of the country that before were relatively free of violence. "That says one of two things: Either we need many more troops so that we -- this doesn't continue to happen, which I don't think there's any support for. Or we need to reevaluate what our approach has been for the past eight years," she said. "But we see also, over the course of that time, the president of Afghanistan has proven to be an unworthy partner," she said, referring to Karzai, who was sworn in this week to a second five year term. "We cannot fund a mission where we don't have a reliable partner and where whatever civilian investments we want to make -- which are so necessary -- will be diverted for a corrupt purpose," she said.

Afghan schools to reopen after swine flu scare: govt
Kabul (AFP) Nov 21, 2009 - Afghan schools and most tertiary institutions will reopen on Sunday after being shut for three weeks following the country's first swine flu death, the education ministry said Saturday. Universities in cold regions will reopen in February, while those in warmer regions in the south of the country would reopen Sunday, an official of the ministry of higher education told AFP. "The Ministry of Education informs all students of teacher colleges, technical and professional institutes, including private schools, that studies in all higher education institutions related to the ministry will resume from November 22," it said in a statement. The ministry earlier announced that all schools would also reopen Sunday. It said that students would be "compelled" to wear face masks and follow sanitation and prevention guidelines issued by the health ministry.

All schools were ordered closed on November 1 for three weeks after an engineer from Kabul became the first Afghan to die of the (A)H1N1 swine flu virus. The ministry at the time said there are about 7.5 million students and teachers in Afghanistan. The A(H1N1) virus was first detected in Afghanistan in July among American soldiers stationed at the Bagram military base, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kabul. The infections were discovered during a general health check-up among the troops at the base.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Nov 21, 2009
US President Barack Obama has put off a decision on whether to send reinforcements to Afghanistan until after next week's Thanksgiving holiday amid resistance to a troop buildup among key Democrats and criticism from the right.

After months of ruminating over the way forward in the eight-year war, Obama will not announce the biggest strategic decision of his young administration until after the holiday, his spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday.

Thanksgiving is November 26 and Americans traditionally observe a Thursday-to-Sunday break.

Obama had earlier indicated he would end months of deliberations over possible deployment of thousands more troops to the battle-scarred nation "in the coming weeks."

He has held a series of closed-door meetings with top advisers -- including General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the more than 100,000 US and NATO troops already in the country -- to discuss the campaign in Afghanistan and how to achieve US goals there.

McChrystal has asked for up to 40,000 more US troops, warning that Afghanistan could be lost if he does not get them within a year to put down an intensifying Taliban insurgency. Currently, there are 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

But the top Democrat in Congress observed Friday that there may not be sufficient political support for more troops, especially when Washington had an "unworthy partner" in Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was sworn in Thursday to a second term.

"How can we ask the American people to pay a big price in lives and limbs, and also in dollars, if we don't have a connection to a reliable partner?" House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told National Public Radio in an interview.

"So, you know, the whole thing is let's not just talk about troops. Let's talk about what is the strategy and what are the resources that are needed in that regard."

Pelosi and other Democrats opposed a similar surge in US troops to Iraq two years ago, arguing at the time that more troops were needed in Afghanistan, the main front in the war against Al-Qaeda.

Her latest comments reflect the deep discomfort among Obama's Democrats over a deepening military commitment that some fear could sidetrack his presidency, as Vietnam did Lyndon Johnson's in the 1960s.

But the president, recently returned from a trip to Asia where he was dogged by strategy questions about the war, has also been under sustained attack from Republicans who charge that delay is putting US troops at risk.

Senator John McCain, Obama's adversary in last year's presidential election, on Friday predicted an allied victory in Afghanistan in 12 to 18 months but only if sufficient troops are sent.

Many US lawmakers are "impatient with the delay in the decision-making process," McCain said at a defense conference in Halifax, Canada.

Top Republicans wrote Obama Friday expressing "deep concern" over his Afghanistan policy, saying it has left the country and allies "uncertain about (his) commitment to the war."

In a letter obtained by AFP, 14 lawmakers including House Minority Leader John Boehner said they fear Obama's long deliberations over sending more US troops into battle "has emboldened our enemies."

"We believe that it is long overdue for our military to be in the execution stage of the strategy instead of the evaluation phase," the lawmakers wrote.

Gibbs did not say when Obama might hold another meeting with his advisers, but the White House said earlier the president was expected to meet at least one more time with his war council.

The Obama administration has been openly grappling with the issue of Afghan leadership, and has conveyed to Karzai's corruption-tainted government that the US military presence must have a time limit.

Allies Canada and the Netherlands have announced plans to pull their troops out in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a speech in Canada Friday said US forces could provide a "sustainable" replacement in the south for the departing Dutch and Canadian troops.

But he called on other allies to step forward, saying the Afghan effort will "require more commitment, more sacrifice, and more patience from the community of free nations."

According to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, approval for Obama's Afghan policy has fallen sharply to 45 percent.

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THE STANS

China has stake in Kashmir's peace: separatist
Srinagar (AFP) Nov 21, 2009
The leader of Indian Kashmir's moderate separatists said on Saturday that China has a stake in peace in restive Kashmir as part of the disputed Himalayan region is under Beijing's control. The statement came amid rising Sino-Indian tensions over a Chinese embassy policy of issuing different visas to Indian Kashmir residents and the disputed Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh. ... read more

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