Obama and Hamid Karzai agree to differ on Afghanistan war
| Washington
President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai attempted to debunk suggestions of a festering rift between the two men and nations at a White House press conference Wednesday.
Though the two made overtures to the other's primary concerns 鈥� Mr. Obama emphasizing Afghan sovereignty and Mr. Karzai paying tribute to American sacrifice in the Afghanistan war 鈥� they sought to underline the countries' 鈥渂road and deepening鈥� relationship by not shying away from controversial issues.
Afghan corruption and Karzai鈥檚 plans to reintegrate thousands of Taliban fighters are the kinds of tough questions that partners often spar over before resolving, they said. They further drove home that point with the release of a three-page joint statement that confronted these underlying tensions.
For example, the statement offers support to Karzai鈥檚 Taliban reconciliation program, but also underscores the US view that such efforts cannot come at any cost. Moreover, the statement hints at a disagreements about Karzai's plans for an upcoming consultative peace conference 鈥� or jirga 鈥� that could begin the process of engaging insurgency leaders.
After months of sniping and discontent between Washington and Kabul, however, Wednesday was overtly about reassurance. Obama reassured his Afghan counterpart that the US commitment to his country will continue after the surge of US troops begins withdrawing in July 2011. And Karzai thanked Obama and the American people for the 鈥渟ignificant resources鈥� he said have contributed to a strengthening Afghanistan and to American security.
The robed and capped Afghan leader referred emotionally to a young soldier he visited Tuesday in Walter Reed Army Hospital who had lost his arms and legs while fighting in Afghanistan. He then pointedly called exclusively on women journalists, as if to acknowledge US concerns over women鈥檚 rights in his country.
Making Afghanistan's concerns known
But Karzai also highlighted issues of special importance to him and his country, saying he and Obama 鈥渄iscussed in a frank and productive manner鈥� both the issue of civilian casualties and 鈥渏udicial independence鈥� 鈥� code for his concerns over a US focus on government corruption.
The three-page joint statement appeared to seek common ground on several key issues, including reconciliation and reintegration of the Taliban .
鈥淭丑别 United States pledged its support for Afghanistan鈥檚 reintegration and reconciliation processes,鈥� the statement reads, 鈥渨hich allow an honorable place in society to those who cut ties with Al Qaeda, cease violence against the Afghan state, and accept the Afghan constitution, including its protections of human rights and women鈥檚 equality.鈥�
The concern among American officials is that Karzai will attempt to reconcile not just with low-level fighters but also with hardline Taliban leaders.
鈥淭丑别 [US] military is on-board with reaching out to the so-called $10-a-day Taliban, but it鈥檚 when he [Karzai] starts talking about more substantive discussions with upper leadership that you start to see the disagreements over strategy,鈥� says Jason Campbell, an Afghanistan expert at the Rand Corp. in Arlington, Va.
But at Wednesday鈥檚 press conference, Karzai said that in addition to 鈥渢housands of country boys,鈥� any reconciliation and reintegration plan should be open to Taliban leadership 鈥渨ho are not within Al Qaeda leadership鈥� and who are 鈥渘ot against democracy or women鈥檚 place in Afghan society.鈥�
Questions over timing of the jirga
The joint statement suggests the two countries are on the same page concerning Karzai's upcoming jirga. But Mr. Campbell says bland wording in the statement may be masking differences of opinion over the timing of the conference.
The conference was already postponed once to allow for Karzai鈥檚 trip to Washington, and a new date of May 29 has been mentioned. But Wednesday鈥檚 joint statement makes no reference to a specific date.
鈥淢y guess is that failing to give a date wasn鈥檛 just an oversight,鈥� says Campbell. 鈥淭丑别 US would prefer to be on much more sound footing from a military standpoint before green-lighting such discussions, while Karzai is more intent on seeing what he can get now.鈥�
The US-Afghan relationship should be on surer footing after Karzai鈥檚 visit, says Campbell. But the question is how long that will last, he says: 鈥淚f all this new understanding is tentative and vulnerable to blows, we could be in a situation where another civilian fatality event caused by NATO forces puts us right back where we were a few weeks ago.鈥�
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