PRESIDENT Barack Obama has announced an overhaul of the United States effort in Afghanistan and Pakistan, deploying a further 4,000 troops to the region but introducing a new focus on diplomatic efforts throughout the region.
Mr Obama outlined the new strategy yesterday in the White House, surrounded by his national security team and before an audience of military officers, diplomats and aid workers bound for the region.
The deployment is in addition to the extra 17,000 the president sent to Afghanistan earlier this year, but he stressed that their focus would be on training Afghan forces to take the lead in securing the country.
“If the Afghanistan government falls to the Taliban or allows al-Qaeda to go unchallenged, that country will again be a base for terrorists,” Mr Obama said, describing the region as the most dangerous in the world.
White House aides insisted that the new strategy did not mean that the US was narrowing its objectives but Mr Obama suggested that, unlike his predecessor, he is not seeking to establish a democracy in Afghanistan .
“As president, my greatest responsibility is to protect the American people. We are not in Afghanistan to control that country or to dictate its future,” he said.
“We are in Afghanistan to confront a common enemy that threatens the United States, our friends and allies, and the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan who have suffered the most at the hands of violent extremists.” The president made a point of distinguishing between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, which he said was continuing to plan for attacks on American soil, adding that the safety of the world was at stake.
“This is not simply an American problem – far from it. It is, instead, an international security challenge of the highest order,” he said.
“Terrorist attacks in London and Bali were tied to al-Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan, as were attacks in North Africa and the Middle East, in Islamabad and Kabul. If there is a major attack on an Asian, European, or African city, it, too, is likely to have ties to al-Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan.”
While he was uncompromising in his pledge to defeat al-Qaeda, the president suggested that the Taliban could be divided and subsequently weakened.
“There is an uncompromising core of the Taliban. They must be met with force, and they must be defeated,” he said.
“But there are also those who’ve taken up arms because of coercion, or simply for a price. These Afghans must have the option to choose a different course. And that’s why we will work with local leaders, the Afghan government, and international partners to have a reconciliation process in every province. As their ranks dwindle, an enemy that has nothing to offer the Afghan people but terror and repression must be further isolated.”
Mr Obama called on Congress to approve $1.5 billion (€1.1 billion) in aid to Pakistan each year for the next five years but he insisted that US support for both countries would be contingent on their governments achieving results in confronting militants and combating corruption.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will attend a United Nations meeting on Afghanistan next Tuesday and Mr Obama will ask Nato allies for support at a meeting in Strasbourg later in the week.
“As America does more, we will ask others to join us in doing their part. From our partners and Nato allies, we will seek not simply troops, but rather clearly defined capabilities: supporting the Afghan elections, training Afghan security forces, a greater civilian commitment to the Afghan people,” he said.
The president also promised to work with the UN to create a contact group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that would include the Central Asian states, the Gulf nations and Iran, Russia, India and China.
Congressional leaders offered broad support for the new strategy, which Democrats praised for its focus on fighting terrorism rather than counter-insurgency measures.
“The president’s plan is the result of a detailed study and is wisely centred on dismantling al-Qaeda and denying safe havens in both Afghanistan and Pakistan to those who would attack the United States,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
New York congressman John McHugh, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, warned however that the plan may be too unambitious.
“Today, the president laid out a bare bones strategy for Afghanistan; and unfortunately, it risks being all things to all people,” he said.
“We cannot allow this minimalist approach to creep into the new strategy, and Congress has to ensure the strategy is fully funded, resourced and executed.”