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Commander says Afghan handoff 'years away' Militant havens in Pakistan remain a challenge, he tells newspaper execs U.S. Army Gen. David McKiernan, commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force, says the opium trade is eating away at Afghanistan. SAN DIEGO - The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said Monday it will be years before coalition forces can make a complete handoff to Afghan security forces, despite the arrival of thousands of new troops beginning this month and signs of diplomatic progress. Army Gen. David McKiernan told newspaper executives gathered at The Associated Press annual meeting that militant...

BARACK Obama's Nato allies yesterday snubbed his request to send more combat troops to the battlefields of Afghanistan in a blow to his plans for a "surge" against al-Qaeda. Up to 5,000 "trainers" and "police" from Nato forces were committed at a summit in Strasbourg yesterday, allowing the US president to claim he had won a "strong down-payment" from his allies. But his hopes that Europe would commit combat-ready troops to take part in a new military offensive in the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan were turned down.

Europe praises Obama, pledges few Afghan troops STRASBOURG, France – European leaders enthusiastically praised President Barack Obama's new Afghan strategy at a NATO summit Saturday but held their ground on a central disagreement and offered only military trainers and extra security forces for upcoming elections. Violent anti-war protests that marred the alliance's 60th anniversary celebrations were a stark reminder that much of Europe has no appetite for the other, costlier half of Obama's Afghan equation: more combat troops. "I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy," Obama said. "We'll need more...

France and Germany fully endorsed President Barack Obama's new Afghan war strategy but continued to firmly resist U.S. demands for more combat troops on Saturday in a rift that overshadowed symbols of unity at NATO's 60th-anniversary summit. Obama told NATO leaders the alliance should remain open to new members, another stance that is likely to meet resistance from his allies. Germany, France and many other NATO nations believe that any more eastward expansion will further damage ties Russia that the alliance is trying hard to mend. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and two dozen other NATO leaders walked across a bridge...

Yesterday, I wrote about the abject failure of Barack Obama to use his “smart power” to shake loose any new troop commitments for Afghanistan from our NATO partners. In fact, while Obama prostrated himself in Europe, apologizing for American arrogance in the past, our allies were so unimpressed that only the French offered any new assistance at all to match the 17,000 additional troops the US has already added. They’ve pledged 300 more troops — and will not allow them to fight. Today, a few more troop commitments have trickled in … and when I say trickled, that’s exactly what...

Barack Obama fails to win Nato troops he wants for Afghanistan Michael Evans and David Charter in Strasbourg Barack Obama made an impassioned plea to America’s allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, warning that failure to do so would leave Europe vulnerable to more terrorist atrocities. But though he continued to dazzle Europeans on his debut international tour, the Continent’s leaders turned their backs on the US President. Gordon Brown was the only one to offer substantial help. He offered to send several hundred extra British soldiers to provide security during the August election, but even that fell short...

President Obama's new plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan (AfPak) was eagerly anticipated. I first reported from Afghanistan in early 2006 that the war was being lost, so any new plan to address the problems is at least three years late. This is not Mr. Obama's fault, but it is his problem. During his March 27 announcement, Mr. Obama said that critical assets were diverted from Afghanistan to Iraq. That's true, but it's not the only reason why Afghanistan is in trouble. For a variety of reasons - history, geography, people - Iraq is remarkably different than AfPak. Most Americans know...

Anyone who didn't believe that Obama's liberal idiocy on foreign policy wouldn't have real world consequences, I present exhibit "A" - the Taliban responding to the Administration's offer for "honorable reconciliation:" Taliban insurgents reject a U.S. offer of "honorable reconciliation," a top spokesman said on Wednesday, calling it a "lunatic idea" and saying the only way to end the war was to withdraw foreign troops. With the Afghan conflict now in its eighth year, NATO-led forces and the Taliban are locked in a bloody stalemate with violence set to rise further this year as more U.S. troops arrive and seek...

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2009 – Although the U.S. government recognizes the differences between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it makes sense from a strategy standpoint to consider the two countries as one theater, the commander of U.S. Central Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus praised the comprehensive strategy during his testimony before the panel. “Although the additional resources will be applied in different ways on either side of [their mutual border], Afghanistan and Pakistan comprise a single theater that requires comprehensive ‘whole-of governments’ approaches that are closely coordinated,” Petraeus said. More U.S. forces are deploying...

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2009 – Defending the homeland by defeating al-Qaida is at the heart of the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, the undersecretary of defense for policy told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Michele Flournoy, one of the architects of the strategy that President Barack Obama announced last week, said defeating the terror group that has launched attacks across the globe must be an international effort. The effort to garner international support already has started, Flournoy said. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke yesterday to representatives of 80 nations at the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan in the...

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration plans to propose roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military as a US senate panel holds a full committee hearing on a bill which seeks to triple US economic assistance to Pakistan. The military aid would be in addition to a $7.5 billion aid package which will be reintroduced in the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday. A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FOX News the military aid will be dedicated exclusively to 'equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations.' Gen. David Petraeus, who is...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While President Obama has insisted that securing Afghanistan against a rise in terrorist groups is a top priority in the war on terrorism, Sen. John McCain said Tuesday that the problems in that country are not as thorny as those in Iraq. "It's [Afghanistan's] not as tough as Iraq, and don't let anyone tell you that it is, because when we started the [2007] surge, Iraq was virtually in a state of collapse," McCain said during a speech at The Foreign Policy Initiative. . . . . . McCain also said that like him, many Republicans support...

WASHINGTON: US Senator and former US presidential hopeful John McCain has said on Tuesday that he is in favour of additional US aid to Pakistan to overpower the menace of terrorism and rising extremism that has cost a great deal to Pakistan. However, he predicted the most part of the US aid will go in vain but did not belly out the causes, which may adversely affect the usage of US aid to Pakistan. Talking to media, McCain said the most part of the US will fail to reach the destitute people and those who deserve it badly. “Drone strikes...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has thrown his support behind President Barack Obama's approach to Afghanistan and believes Obama will succeed in getting European nations to contribute more resources to the fight, although he doubts those will be in the form of more troops. "President Obama has an enormous reservoir of good will in Europe. I think you'll see that manifested by the people's enthusiasm for his first visit as president of the United States," McCain said Tuesday as Obama headed for the G-20 summit in London. "I think he can translate that good will into larger commitments on the part...

Obama to propose 2.8 billion dollars military aid for Pakistan Lahore, Mar. 31 : President Barack Obama has planned to propose 2.8 billion dollars in aid for the Pakistani military to intensify the US-led war on terror along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The military aid would be in addition to the civilian aid--1.5 billion dollars a year for five years. According to Fox News, the military aid will be dedicated exclusively to "equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations." The channel quoted General David Petraeus, as telling that the plan will be called the "Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund"....

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday at a U.N. conference on Afghanistan that Taliban members in Afghanistan who abandoned extremism must be granted an "honorable form of reconciliation." "We must also support efforts by the government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of al Qaeda and the Taliban from those who have joined their ranks not out of conviction, but out of desperation," Clinton said at an international conference on Afghanistan in the Hague. "This is, in fact, the case for a majority of those fighting with the Taliban," she told delegates from more than 70 countries...

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2009 – The new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan will include unprecedented integration of military and civilian activities, two key leaders in the effort said yesterday. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, spoke with host John King on the CNN program “State of the Union.” Holbrooke said that in the wake of a full review of Afghanistan policy ordered by President Barack Obama, he and Petraeus plan to meet soon to work on details for the way forward. “Dave Petraeus and I are...

President Obama plans to propose spending roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military, as he steps up the U.S.-led campaign to battle extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. That money would be in addition to the civilian aid -- $1.5 billion a year for five years -- that the president called for Friday. A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FOX News the money will be dedicated exclusively to "equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations."

As he carries out a retooled strategy in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama says he will consult with Pakistan's leaders before pursuing terrorist hideouts in that country. Obama said U.S. ally Pakistan needs to be more accountable, but ruled out deploying U.S. troops there. "Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government," the president told CBS television's "Face the Nation" in an interview broadcast Sunday. The president also bemoaned the tenuous security situation in Afghanistan, saying, "Unless we get a handle on it now, we're gonna be in trouble." He made clear that his new strategy...

McCain said Obama's strategy will prevent Afghanistan from becoming a base for terrorists. "I think the outlines of this proposal are good. The best way to get out of Afghanistan fast is people to think we're staying," McCain said. He said he knows more troops are required in Afghanistan and that the American people need to be prepared for more causalities there.