FEBRUARY 8, 2009, 5:06 P.M. ET
U.S. to Target Afghan Drug Trade
By JAY SOLOMON and YOCHI J. DREAZEN
MUNICH -- Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration's new point man on Afghanistan and Pakistan, is expected to engage Iran as part of a broad effort to stabilize Afghanistan and combat the country's growing drug trade, according to officials briefed on the special representative's plans.
Many in the Obama administration believe that Iran and the U.S. share common interests when it comes to Afghanistan, these officials said. Tehran has been among the largest suppliers of financial and economic aid to Kabul since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, and these officials said they believe Iran may be willing to work with the U.S. to strengthen the fragile government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Mr. Holbrooke is expected to seek Iran's support for a renewed international effort to combat Afghanistan's growing drug trade. Iran has one of the highest opium-addiction rates in the world, and Iranian authorities have long pushed U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in Afghanistan to take stronger measures to combat opium production and trafficking there.
"Holbrooke will deal with Iran through [the issue of] Afghanistan," said an official who has spoken in recent days with Mr. Holbrooke, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Holbrooke said the envoy wouldn't comment about his plans until he returns from a 10-day visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India that kicks off Monday in Islamabad.
President Barack Obama has entrusted the conduct of the troubled, U.S.-led war in Afghanistan to two men: Gen. David Petraeus, who runs the military's Central Command and oversees the military aspects of the conflict; and Mr. Holbrooke, who has been charged with managing the diplomatic, economic and political facets of the war.
The pair made their first joint appearance Sunday at a security conference here attended by scores of political leaders, military officers and academics from around the world.
Gen. Petraeus said he was happy to have as his "diplomatic wingman someone journalists describe as the 'Bulldozer,' " a reference to a nickname Mr. Holbrooke earned for his forceful personality. Mr. Holbrooke replied by jokingly describing Gen. Petraeus as his "unindicted co-conspirator."
The two men warned that conditions in Afghanistan were deteriorating and called for reshaping the entire U.S.-led mission there.
Gen. Petraeus said the U.S. would begin using tactics in Afghanistan that were closely modeled on those developed in Iraq. He called for expanding outreach to moderate members of the Taliban and said the U.S. would build new outposts in residential areas of Afghanistan so American troops could live and work among ordinary Afghans.
The American commander pressed European allies to contribute more troops, especially badly needed military and police trainers. The U.S., which is the biggest, single member of the Western alliance in Afghanistan, plans to double its military presence there to more than 60,000 by the end of the year.
Even with additional forces, Gen. Petraeus warned that the U.S. and its allies faced a tough fight in the country. "It's important to be clear-eyed about the challenges that lie ahead."
Mr. Holbrooke, who is best known for negotiating the accords that ended the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, was blunter. "I have never seen anything remotely resembling the mess we've inherited," he said. "In my view, it's going to be much tougher than Iraq."
Mr. Holbrooke called for making a single, U.N. special envoy responsible for the nonmilitary aspects of the conflict. He said the international community was "dribbling away" scant resources by failing to better coordinate each country's reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
"People sit on the stage and pledge cooperation and nothing happens," he said.
Mr. Holbrooke didn't discuss Iran in his public comments in Munich, but some U.S. officials said they believed outreach to Tehran through Afghanistan could be part of a broader U.S. engagement strategy toward Iran, a top priority of Mr. Obama's.
Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com and Yochi J. Dreazen at yochi.dreazen@wsj.com
Education for Liberation!
Peter S. Lopez aka: Peta
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/THIRD-WORLD-NEWS/
KeyLink: http://www.NetworkAztlan.com
No comments:
Post a Comment