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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: locogringo who wrote (126716)	3/18/2012 1:02:55 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	3 Recommendations Respond to of 224718

Romney: Obama Mismanaging Karzai Relationship By ADAM ENTOUS And KRISTINA PETERSON WASHINGTON—Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other GOP leaders on Sunday sharply criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the war in Afghanistan, accusing him of mismanaging the military campaign and relations with the country's president, Hamid Karzai. U.S. relations with Mr. Karzai have been badly strained over a string of offenses against Afghans by American forces, in particular last week's killing of 16 villagers, allegedly by a U.S. soldier. After the rampage, the Afghan leader surprised the U.S. by demanding that the American-led coalition pull its troops out of Afghan villages and accused Washington of blocking an Afghan probe into the killings. Mr. Romney told Fox News Sunday that Mr. Obama undercut the war effort, and relations with Mr. Karzai, by publicly setting out timetables for when the U.S. would scale back its combat role in Afghanistan and for when it will complete the withdrawal of most American forces. "This is leading Mr. Karzai to take action that's self-preservation in nature," Mr. Romney said. Mr. Obama "needs to be more engaged and interacting with not only our commanders there but also with leadership in Afghanistan." Mr. Romney said that if he became president, he would work more closely with Mr. Karzai and consult with him "day to day," in contrast with Mr. Obama, who has had more limited contact with the Afghan leader. U.S. officials say Mr. Karzai's behavior has, at times, been erratic and complain that he has been slow to combat corruption. Mr. Romney hasn't called for accelerating the drawdown of the nearly 90,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan, in contrast to some of his Republican rivals for the White House. "I think it's very plain to see that the conditions there [in Afghanistan] are not going very well," Mr. Romney told Fox. "And I lay part of the blame for that on the lack of leadership on the part of our president, both in terms of his interaction with Karzai, with leaders there, as well as his relative detachment from our military commanders there, and the fact that he published a specific date for our withdrawal." Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona echoed Mr. Romney's criticism of the president. He said the military campaign in Afghanistan was "succeeding" but what Mr. Obama "keeps talking about is how quick we're going to withdraw." "So put yourself in President Karzai's place," Mr. McCain told NBC's "Meet the Press." "President Karzai has ambitions to stay there. One of his predecessors ended up being hung from a lamppost in Kabul. So instead of saying we're going to win this war … all we hear about is plans for withdrawal." Last week, Mr. Obama formally announced plans for the U.S. and its allies to shift to a train, advise and assist mission in Afghanistan in 2013. Mr. Obama has brushed aside calls for accelerating the troop drawdown, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014. U.S. officials have defended their investigation into last week's shooting rampage and dispute charges by Mr. Karzai that Washington officials have thwarted an Afghan investigation. U.S. officials say they believe Mr. Karzai's harsher-than-usual criticism of the U.S. was directed at domestic audiences outraged by the conduct of U.S. forces. They have played down the implications of the rift with Mr. Karzai on U.S. war strategy. Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S., Eklil Hakimi, told CNN's "State of the Union" that Mr. Karzai attaches "great importance" to his partnership with the U.S. and the international community. "Our president is doing whatever any legitimate president would do: he is reflecting, somehow, whatever our people are saying. The situation there, especially with these very tragic incidents, is not that easy," the ambassador said."We do trust the U.S. We do know how important this relationship is and we are working as a partner to resolve all the issues."