Obama Afghan war speech to detail exit plan

Its accurate to say that he will be more explicit about both goals and timeframe than has been the case before and than has been part of the public discussion, said a senior official. He wants to give a clear sense of both the timeframe for action and how the war will eventually wind down.

The officials said it would not be tied to particular conditions on the ground nor would it be as firm as the current schedule for reducing troops in Iraq,where Obama has committed to withdrawing most combat units by August and all forces by the end of 2011.

Some hawkish Republicans cautioned that setting a deadline for withdrawal could signal a lack of US resolve to allies,including Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Talk of an exit strategy is exactly the wrong way to go, said Sen Jon Kyl,R-Arizona I certainly hope the President doesnt do that,because all that does is signal to the enemies and also to our allies,to the folks in Pakistan as well as the Afghans,that were not there to stay until the mission is accomplished. Kyl spoke on Fox News.

Senior lawmakers also warned the White House on Sunday that its expected troop buildup in Afghanistan would fail unless the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan do more to combat militants attacking US forces.

With the cost of the war rising,some Democrats have even talked of a surtax to pay for it. And Republican Sen Richard Lugar of Indiana asked,If we were talking about several years of time,how many more years beyond that? What is the capacity of our country to finance this particular type of situation as opposed to other ways of fighting al-Qaeda and the war against terror?

Obama was expected on Tuesday to describe commitments from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and specific benchmarks his government must meet to crack down on corruption,deploy well-trained Afghan troops and police,and focus on development in one of the worlds poorest nations. NYT

Pak more unstable today than in the past,say US Senators

Washington: As President Barack Obama prepares to announce his Afghan policy,top Senators have asked him to include Pakistan in it,arguing that the country is more unstable than in the past and is directly linked with insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.

You have a situation where al-Qaeda has reconstituted itself. You have Pakistan which is even more unstable today than it was in the past. All these things have developed over the last several years, Senator Jack Reed told the CNN in an interview. The President has to mention Pakistan… What is the implication of that war there,and Pakistan itself? Senator Richard Lugar,ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs,told the CNN.

Noting that Afghanistan is crucial,Lugar said: We have been concentrating on the number of troops and so forth. Now the President will need to outline that,and he will need to do so with confidence,that this is not a few troops here,a few troops there,a reevaluation each time through.

Reed said Obama has to speak to the American people,remind them why the US is there,and also lay out a strategy,not just the reflexive response to a recommendation,but a strategy that involves protecting the homeland from al Qaeda. PTI