KABUL – US president Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan yesterday to sign an agreement charting future relations with the country, making the secret trip on the first anniversary of the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Mr Obama planned to deliver a televised address to Americans later. The US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement will set conditions for a US presence there after a 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of most Nato combat forces.
As he fights for his re-election, Mr Obama is seeking to portray his foreign policy as a success. His re-election campaign has made bin Laden’s death a key part of that argument, and the president’s visit to the country where militants hatched the September 11th, 2001, attacks will reinforce that message. It opens him to criticism from Republicans, who say he has politicised bin Laden’s death.
After leaving Washington late on Monday and flying overnight, Mr Obama arrived at Bagram Air Base before visiting Kabul. He planned to meet Afghan president Hamid Karzai at his palace and will later make remarks to troops at Bagram.
From Bagram, he also plans to deliver formal remarks about the Afghanistan war. Mr Obama’s speech will focus on the strategic partnership agreement and is likely to put an emphasis on his plans to wind down the war in which nearly 3,000 US and Nato soldiers have died since 2001.
After a US troop increase in late 2009, US and Nato forces have weakened Taliban militants, but the movement is far from defeated. The White House wants to paint Mr Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan as successful, despite continued violence and problems with corruption that have raised concerns about future stability.
Republican Mitt Romney, his likely opponent in the November election, has criticised his handling of Afghanistan, saying the timeline for a withdrawal will only embolden militants and could leave the country vulnerable to a return of the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan prior to the invasion.
Mr Obama plans to host Nato leaders in Chicago on May 20th-21st for a summit to discuss the specifics of the troop withdrawals and look at ways to ensure that Afghanistan does not collapse into civil war when foreign forces leave. – (Reuters)