US ambassador rejects Afghan troop surge
Karl Eikenberry wrote to the White House
Thursday, 12, Nov 2009 03:30
By Richard James.
The US ambassador to Afghanistan has opposed proposals to send thousands more troops to the country.
Karl Eikenberry wrote to the White House calling for the plans to be reconsidered, claiming president Hamid Karzai's government first needed to tackle the corruption that is continuing to threaten democratic stability in the country.
The timing of the leaked message could not be worse for US president Barack Obama as he continues to contemplate calls by military commanders for the deployment of an extra 40,000 troops.
According to US reports Mr Eikenberry, a former American commander in Afghanistan, sent the message to the White House last week.
Deep divisions are emerging within Washington over what action to next take with regards the continuing campaign in Afghanistan.
The US military currently has some 68,000 troops in the country and top military commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal has called for another 40,000 to be deployed in a surge similar to the one implemented in Iraq during George Bush's time in the White House.
However, public opinion in the US has started to turn against the campaign, now in its eighth year, in light of the mounting death-toll and the disastrous elections held in August marred by widespread fraud and vote-fixing.
The Obama administration is also known to have concerns over the reliability of President Karzai's government and its ability to hold off the Taliban insurgency.
Mr Eikenberry's comments have now put him at odds with the top US military commanders and once again ramped up the pressure on Mr Obama to make his decision on troop deployment, either way, sooner rather than later.