Aim is to put US on path to end Afghan war: Obama

“I’m less concerned about any individual than I am with a government as a whole that is having difficulty providing basic services to its people,” Obama said in his latest blunt assessment of the Karzai government,whose competence is an essential part of a US war effort now in its ninth year.

Obama is expected soon to announce a revamping of the US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is likely to send thousands more troops into Afghanistan to stabilize the deteriorating security there.

Many times,the White House has said Obama will reveal his decision in the next few weeks. Obama said so again in a series of TV interviews,saying his announcement will come by year’s end.

Asked if his decision will end the war,Obama said: “This decision will put us on a path towards ending the war.” Obama inherited the Afghanistan conflict and suggested he wants to be the one to end it.

“My preference would be not to hand off anything to the next president,” Obama said. “One of the things I’d like is the next president to come in and say,’I’ve got a clean slate’.”