12 seconds ago 2009-11-27T20:50:02-08:00
WASHINGTON – The United States is limiting its goals in Afghanistan and demanding better accountability from that country's underperforming leader, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday, and she tied additional U.S. civilian help to results from Kabul.
Clinton, an influential voice in deliberations about whether to add large numbers of U.S. troops to an unpopular 8-year war, said Afghan President Hamid Karzai can do more to reduce corruption and go after those who may have looted U.S. aid in the past.
"I have made it clear that we're not going to be providing any civilian aid to Afghanistan unless we have a certification that if it goes into the Afghan government in any form, that we're going to have ministries that we can hold accountable," Clinton said.
The Obama administration wants a tribunal to prosecute major corruption crimes and a new anti-corruption commission, she said in an interview on ABC's "This Week."
"There does have to be actions by the government of Afghanistan against those who have taken advantage of the money that has poured into Afghanistan in the last eight years so that we can better track it and we can have actions taken that demonstrate there's no impunity for those who are corrupt," she said.
President Barack Obama is weighing ways to link the coming troops and money decision to better government performance in Afghanistan, but U.S. leverage is limited by the shifting objectives in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion and the history of sloppy accountability on both sides.
"We're going to expect more from the Afghan government going forward and we've got some very specific asks that we will be making," Clinton said in another interview on NBC's "Meet The Press." Both interviews were done from Asia, where Clinton is traveling with Obama.
Asked whether she thinks Karzai is an effective and reliable partner for the investment of further U.S. forces, Clinton demurred.
"I believe that he has his strengths and he has his weaknesses," Clinton said on NBC. "Certainly there are many improvements in Afghanistan over the last eight years. But there has not been the kind of open, transparent, accountable government that stood against corruption, that delivered services to people that I think the people of Afghanistan are seeking and that we would all like to see for them."
Obama is expected to announce some troop increase along with clearer limitations on U.S. goals for the war after he returns from Asia late this week. The announcement is expected either just before or just after the Thanksgiving holiday.
"We're going to be doing what we can to create an atmosphere in which the blood and treasure that the United States has committed to Afghanistan can be justified and can produce the kind of results that we're looking for," Clinton said on NBC. "But we have no illusions."
The time is past, Clinton said dismissively, when U.S. officials would "talk about how we were going to help the Afghans build a modern democracy and build a more functioning state and do all these wonderful things."
She added: "That could happen, but our primary focus is on the security of the United States of America — how do we protect and defend against future attacks."
