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President Barack Obama told Afghan leaders on
Sunday to do more to rein in rampant corruption and improve their
government as he made an unannounced visit to the capital for a
firsthand look at the 8-year-old war he inherited and dramatically
escalated.


      After a brief meeting with President Hamid Karzai at the
presidential palace in Kabul, Obama praised recent steps in the
military campaign against insurgents, but said Afghans needed to
see conditions on the ground get better.


      "Progress will continue to be made, but we also want to make
progress on the civilian front," Obama said, referring to
anti-corruption efforts, good governance and adherence to the rule
of law.


      "All of these things end up resulting in an Afghanistan that is
more prosperous and more secure," Obama said. He invited Karzai to
visit Washington on May 12, the White House said.


      Karzai promised that his country "would move forward into the
future" to eventually take over its own security, and he thanked
Obama for the American intervention in his country.


      The trip, its secrecy forced by security concerns, was an
extraordinary capstone to a momentous week in Obama's presidency.
He achieved the most ambitious domestic policy initiative in
decades with a historic health care overhaul and scored first major
foreign policy achievement with a significant new arms control
treaty with Russia.


      Obama landed in Afghanistan for a stay of just a few hours, all
in darkness, after an overnight flight from Washington. He flew by
helicopter from Bagram Air Field to the capital, where Karzai
greeted him at the palace. It was Obama's second stop in a war zone
as commander in chief, coming about a year after a similarly
secretive trip to Iraq.


      The trip was intended to let Obama tell Karzai that he must deal
with corruption and cut the flow of money from poppy production and
drug trafficking that is sustaining the insurgency. The U.S. also
wants Karzai to halt cronyism and rewards for warlords in
government hiring and to create an effective, credible judicial
system.


      The White House insisted that Karzai's Cabinet participate in
most of the meetings with Obama. The Cabinet includes a number of
ministers favored by the U.S., including the heads of finance,
interior and defense, whom the Obama administration wants to
empower as a way of reducing the influence of presidential cronies.
Some talented Afghan administrators have complained that Karzai
marginalized them in an attempt to solidify his powers.


      Both of Karzai's vice presidents are former warlords whose
forces allegedly killed thousands of people in the civil war of the
1990s that paved the way for the rise of the Taliban.


      In December, Obama ordered 30,000 additional forces into the
fight against the Taliban, which lost control of the country when
the U.S. invaded in 2001. Those new U.S. troops are still arriving
and most are expected to be in place by summer, for a full force of
roughly 100,000 U.S. troops. There were about 34,000 when Obama
took office.


      The trip came just two days after a threatening new audio
message from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding
along the ungoverned border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.


      The White House made no advance announcement of the visit, which
officials said had been long desired by the president but delayed
by weather and other logistical obstacles. Initially, the White
House said Karzai had been informed of Obama's impending visit just
an hour before his arrival. But Obama's press secretary, Robert
Gibbs, said later that the Afghan government was told about the
trip on Thursday.


      Obama had gone Friday afternoon to the presidential retreat at
Camp David, Md., from which unnoticed departures are easier because
of its secluded mountain location. The small contingent of White
House aides and media allowed on the trip were sworn to secrecy.


      The president's plane landed under a clear sky, with only a few
wispy clouds and an almost full moon. Obama was greeted by the
American ambassador, Karl Eikenberry. No flash photography was
allowed while his arrival was kept secret.


      It was Obama's second visit to Afghanistan; the first was in
2008 when, as a presidential candidate and U.S. senator, he joined
an official congressional delegation.


      In addition to talks with Afghan leaders, Obama planned to meet
with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander, and
speak with American troops.


      At least 945 members of the U.S. military had died in
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S.
invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated
Press count. The number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan has
roughly doubled in the first three months of 2010 compared to the
same period last year as Washington has added tens of thousands of
additional soldiers to reverse the Taliban's momentum.


      The war is unpopular with a majority of Americans, especially
progressives in the base of Obama's Democratic Party. This was
reflected in Obama's new Afghanistan strategy. He combined the
large buildup - his second to the Afghanistan force in less than a
year as president - with a call to start bringing troops home in
July 2011, just a year after the full contingent is in place.


      Lately, Obama's approval ratings on his handling of Afghanistan
have ticked up, to 57 percent in a March AP-GfK poll, from 49
percent in January. But the challenge ahead is daunting: justify
his escalation with clear progress against the Taliban, and in
building up and training Afghan army and police forces so they can
begin taking over security responsibilities.

      Last month, a major offensive was launched to retake the Taliban
stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province. With fighting still
raging across Afghanistan, and any successes still fragile and
reversible, the war is not yet considered at a turning point. The
key part of Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan - turning ordinary
Afghans away from the Taliban by bringing in development and
installing effective government - has barely begun.


      The next big military operation for the U.S. and NATO troops is
being planned for Kandahar, the city that's the spiritual home of
the Taliban.
      

Gallery

Politics and Government News

President Barack Obama told Afghan leaders on
Sunday to do more to rein in rampant corruption and improve their
government as he made an unannounced visit to the capital for a
firsthand look at the 8-year-old war he inherited and dramatically
escalated.


Obama presses Karzai to fight Afghan corruption

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