Eikenberry's reservations about U.S. troops' reinforcement raise eyebrows

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, has expressed his reservations about sending of more U.S. troops to the war-torn and questioned competence of the Afghan government.

He made the expressions in his two leaked classified memos, which he sent to Washington last week, Afghan and Western media reported on Thursday.

Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in more troops to Afghanistan "while there are still so many questions about the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai."

The negative signals from a powerful U.S. diplomat came on the heel of President Obama's war council meeting in Washington, on Wednesday, which pondered over different options for revising Obama administration's military strategy in Afghanistan.

Reports from Washington say that in the eighth meeting of the council, the president didn't accept any of the available Afghanistan war options and rather pushed for revision of these options.

CNN quoted a senior U.S. administration official as saying that the president was pushing for revisions "to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government."

Other sources in Washington were quoted as saying that the president and his military advisors had narrowed down their proposals to four.

These include how many additional troops should be sent to Afghanistan and what timeline would be for their presence in the country.

Besides, Obama also wants clarification about credibility of the new Karzai administration. The fourth point on Obama's option list, according to U.S. officials, is the exit strategy.

The White House had also confirmed last week that Obama's options on Afghan troop buildup have been narrowed down to four options.

U.S. media on Thursday quoted an administration official as saying that key sticking points for Obama appear to be timeline and mounting questions about the credibility of the Afghan government.

The U.S. president wants to clarify all these questions before committing to send a significant number of U.S. troops, he added.

U.S. media reports said the recommendations ranged from sending10,000 to 40,000 additional U.S. troops.

However, U.S. officials also say that Obama wants to make it clear that the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan is not open-ended.

Stopping over at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska on his way to Japan, Obama told a military audience on Wednesday he will commit more forces to Afghanistan only if it is vital to U.S. interests and receives public support.

"I will not risk your lives unless it is necessary to America's vital interests," Obama told the troops.

Earlier, in another interview to NBC television, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said that "U.S. presence in the troubled Afghanistan is not an open-ended, never-ending commitment."

Political analysts say that being a former U.S. military commander in Afghanistan and a close aide of President Barack Obama, it will be difficult for the White House to outrightly reject Eikenberry's proposals.

The CBS.com, in a report, said on Thursday that Eikenberry is aprominent voice among those advising Obama, "and his sharp dissentis sure to affect the equation."

Senior U.S. military officials have already pointed out that no additional forces could begin flowing into Afghanistan until early next year.

Source: Xinhua