U.S. Afghan Envoy Said to Advise Against More Troops

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and a former top military commander there, has recommended that President Barack Obama not send more troops to the country for the time being, a U.S. official said.

The advice, which counters a troop-increase request from the current American commander in Afghanistan, was sent by cable to Washington, the official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.

The Washington Post, which earlier yesterday reported Eikenberry’s advice, said the ambassador expressed concern about deploying more troops before Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government take stronger steps to fight corruption and mismanagement.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley declined to comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for a response.

Obama met with his top national security advisers yesterday to consider four options for the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and to discuss how long it would take to put each in place. An administration official said afterward that Obama hasn’t made a final decision on the troop-increase request by General Stanley McChrystal, who commands U.S. and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.

The president believes the U.S. needs to make clear to the Afghan government that America’s commitment to the country isn’t open ended, said the official in a statement, issued on the condition of anonymity. The official also said that governance in Afghanistan must improve within a reasonable period of time.

Strategy Options

The president doesn’t plan to accept any of the strategy options that have been presented and is seeking revisions to make clear how and when the U.S. would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, the Associated Press reported yesterday, citing an unidentified administration official.

Obama met for more than two hours with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, General David Petraeus, who commands U.S. forces in the Middle East and Asia, Richard Holbrooke, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and others.

McChrystal joined by teleconference from Afghanistan. He wants to add as many as 40,000 troops to a U.S. force there that’s scheduled to number 68,000 by the end of the year, including 21,000 that Obama authorized earlier this year.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about the additional resourcing” as well as “a refinement of objectives,” Petraeus said on CNN before the meeting. “I think that we are indeed nearing a decision.”

‘Purposeful and Deliberate’

The session was Obama’s eighth with his national security team on the Afghan decision.

“The president is doing this in a very purposeful and deliberate way,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday. A decision may come after Obama returns Nov. 19 from a four-nation visit to Asia, he said. That trip begins today.

Once a decision is made, the president “will take the time to explainâ€

“All allies await the American decision,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen, North Atlantic Treaty Organization secretary general, said in an interview in London with the British Broadcasting Corp. He declined to comment on how many troops he wants on the ground.

‘Increasingly Difficult’

Obama named Eikenberry as the ambassador to Afghanistan earlier this year. The general previously served two military stints in Afghanistan, including one as the head of American and NATO forces there.

At his Senate confirmation hearing in March, he termed the situation in Afghanistan “increasingly difficult” and said “time is of the essence.”

He said “there will be no substitute for more resources and sacrifice,” while also calling on the U.S. and its allies to sharpen their focus on strengthening the capabilities of the central and local governments to provide security, health care, education and jobs for the populace.

Afghanistan may be able to take more responsibility for security next year, opening the way for western forces there to pull out, Rasmussen told Sky News. “We will hand over responsibility to the Afghan security forces as their capacity develops,” and that “can start next year.”

‘Turn the Tide’

Ten Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, including John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, sent Obama a letter yesterday asking him to “fully support General McChrystal’s call for additional resources and troops.”

“On this Veterans’ Day, young Americans are fighting in Afghanistan in what General McChrystal describes as a situation headed toward defeat unless we act while we still have the opportunity to turn the tide and regain the initiative,” the senators wrote in the letter.

The president honored military veterans yesterday in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery for the national holiday, saying that “no commemoration, no praise” can match their service.

“Our servicemen and women have been doing right by America for generations,” Obama said. “There is no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice,” he said. “As long as I am commander-in-chief, America’s going to do right by them.”

Obama spoke after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, a white marble sarcophagus housing the remains of unknown American soldiers from World Wars I, II and the Korean conflict.

Obama’s trip to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea will be his first journey to Asia as president. Jeff Bader, senior director for Asia at the National Security Council, said in a briefing for reporters Nov. 9 that the president would consult with allies on aid to Afghanistan.

To contact the reporters on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net ; Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net