Washington, November 13: The West’s military strategy in Afghanistan slipped even deeper into confusion yesterday after President Barack Obama flatly rejected all four options for increases in troop levels presented to him by his team of national security aides.
The delay was prompted in part by a last-minute bombshell from the US ambassador in Kabul.
In two cables to the President, Karl Eikenberry argued it would be a bad idea to increase troop levels because of the ineptitude of President Hamid Karzai, who finally secured a second term last week after the fraud-marred mess of the August elections.
By speaking up, Mr Eikenberry has put himself on a direct collision course with the US military leader in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. US commanders in Kabul greeted the envoy’s intervention with dismay although some civilian officials believe the development gives Mr Obama a valuable breathing space in which to explore the least harmful ways out of a seemingly intractable situation. The procrastination may point to a possible swing in sentiment in Washington toward those who fear a Vietnam War-type quicksand.
Some significant new US deployments are eventually likely to be approved, but the delay weighs on the military planners not just of the US, of its Nato allies, with no decision now likely before early next month. “This will create immense problems for military planning on the ground. It could not have come at a worse time,” said one senior American defence source in Kabul. British ministers meanwhile fear the splits in Washington will further erode public support for the war.
–Agencies