Eikenberry 'no' to Afghan troop surge
Updated on 12 November 2009
America's envoy in Afghanistan, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, says there is no point sending extra troops to the country while the political situation there remains unstable.
America's ambassador to Afghanistan has expressed strong reservations about sending thousands more US troops to the country.
Leaked accounts of cables from Karl Eikenberry, who once served as the top US military commander in Afghanistan, say he is concerned about corruption in President Karzai's government.
His intervention is in direct contradiction to the request of the current commander General Stanley McChrystal for 40,000 more troops, and makes clear the dilemma faced by President Obama, who yesterday held his eighth top-level war strategy meeting.
Eikenberry once commanded troops in the country and reports suggest he has sent several messages to Washington in the past week suggesting it would be unwise to send extra troops to the country, while there is still uncertainty caused by the recent elections there.
Eikenberry resigned his army commission earlier this year to become US ambassador in Kabul.
He has seen at close quarters how the country has reacted to the news that Hamid Karzai's election as president was corrupt and Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawl from the run-off vote, leaving Karzai to claim victory unopposed.
An anonymous source has revealed the content Eikenberry's recent communications and there are suggestions his comments have already influenced Barack Obama's actions.
A senior American official has said the president turned down all suggestions of increasing troop numbers during a meeting yesterday.
War commander General Stanley McChrystal has suggested an extra 40,000 troops are required.
