[Peace-discuss] Believe nothing until it's officially denied

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Clinton Insists US Doesn’t Have Long-Term Designs on Afghanistan

Though the war in Afghanistan is entering its ninth year with no serious 
consideration of American forces ever actually leaving, Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton insists the US has no long-term designs on the nation.

“We’re not interested in staying in Afghanistan; we’re not interested in any 
long-term presence there,” Clinton insisted on an interview today. She didn’t 
indicate what “long term” means in this context.

Clinton also demanded that Afghan President Hamid Karzai “do better” in his 
efforts to stabilize the nation, saying that the US might yank all civilian aid 
from the nation if the Afghan government doesn’t become more accountable.

She insists that the US has no illusions that Afghanistan will ever become a 
“modern democracy” and says that the war is continuing only to “get al-Qaeda.” 
Though Clinton did not mention this fact, only two months ago Gen. Stanley 
McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, said there was no indication that 
al-Qaeda has any significant presence in the nation.

At the same time, Gen. McChrystal has been pressing for a massive escalation of 
the war effort, and while the announcement of President Obama’s decision has 
been delayed for several months in the face of the conflict’s rising 
unpopularity he is widely expected to commit at least 30,000 additional US 
troops to the war.

Article printed from News From Antiwar.com: http://news.antiwar.com
Posted By Jason Ditz On November 15, 2009

URL to article: 
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/11/15/clinton-insists-us-doesnt-have-long-term-designs-on-afghanistan/