President Barack Obama today set out a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan aimed at destroying the Taliban and al-Qaida elements there and in neighbouring Pakistan.
The president's speech at the White House, at the end of a two-month policy review, marks a shift from the Bush administration's concentration on Iraq to the deteriorating situation in Central Asia, which is set to become "Obama's War".
Speaking in front of an audience of troops and diplomats heading for Afghanistan as well as ambassadors from around the world, he said he wanted to talk candidly to the US people. To those Americans who wondered why the US was still there, he said that al-Qaida was in Pakistan plotting to attack the US and that if Afghanistan collapsed, al-Qaida would return as a threat there.
"The safety of people round the world is at stake," Obama said.
After years of confusion over the exact US aims in Afghanistan, Obama has settled on a narrow – and what his military chiefs regard as achievable – objective of denying safe havens to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
"So I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That is the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you," Obama said.
Flanked by his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and defence secretary, Robert Gates, he said that the Afghanistan-Pakistan border was the most dangerous place in the world.
"Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al-Qaida is actively planning attacks on the US homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan," he said.
Obama said the US needed a "stronger, smarter and comprehensive strategy," but added that it would not "blindly stay the course" if the new strategy did not succede.
The key to the new strategy is to build up the Afghan army and police force. Obama today announced an extra 4,000 US troops to help with training, with the intention of doubling the Afghan force from its current 65,000. He said this might have to be increased again as power was transferred to Afghanistan. This is a relatively cheap option for the US as the pay of each Afghan soldier is quite small.
This will be accompanied by a "surge" in US civilians to Afghanistan, doubling numbers to 900, to help rebuild the country's infrastructure.
Obama last month ordered 17,500 US combat troops to Afghanistan to reinforce the 38,000 already there. But US military commanders are concerned that these will not be enough, anticipating a big Taliban push ahead of the country's August election.
A Taliban commander, Mullah Hayat Khan, expressed scepticism about the Obama plan. "Sending more troops will have no impact on the activities of the Taliban," he told Reuters by phone.
But the governments of Afghan and Pakistan welcomed the strategy. Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, told Reuters: "Pakistan is willing to play an active, constructive role in this because we feel our peace and security is linked to Afghanistan's."
To achieve its goals, the US must recognise the "fundamental connection between the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan," Obama said.
In addition to the renewed focus on Afghanistan, the Obama administration is to step up pressure on Pakistan to tackle the al-Qaida and Taliban safe havens in the tribal areas along its border with Afghanistan. US military and civilian aid is to be increased.
Obama said that the days of the US giving Pakistan a blank cheque were over. He said he would ask Congress to increase aid to Pakistan but in return he expected Pakistan to tackle the safe havens.
"Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al-Qaida and the violent extremists within its borders. And we will insist that action be taken – one way or another – when we have intelligence about high-level terrorist targets," he said.
The last element of the policy is to try to engage Afghanistan's regional neighbours, including Russia and Iran, in helping to pacify Afghanistan.
