Obama's diplomacy team: Leading the charge will be Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (c.), who started her new job today. Joining her will be Richard Holbrooke (far left) and former Sen. George Mitchell (far right) as special envoys to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the Middle East, respectively. (Charles Dharapak/AP)From McClatchy Newspapers:
WASHINGTON — Ten days before President Barack Obama's inauguration, the Afghan government added a new wrinkle to the toughest foreign policy challenge confronting the new president by demanding a share of control over the 30,000-strong, NATO-led security force in Afghanistan.
The Afghan government's Jan. 10 plan, a copy of which was obtained by McClatchy, would give the Afghan government authority to approve an increase in International Security Assistance Force troops, which include about 19,500 Americans. It also would limit home searches or detention of Afghans to Afghan forces and require coordination of "all phases of" NATO ground and air operations "at the highest possible level."
The deteriorating relationship between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his foreign allies, however, is only one of myriad obstacles that Obama and his just-named special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, are confronting in Afghanistan, Obama on Thursday called "the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism."
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My Comment: To change Afghanistan will take decades and multi billions of dollars. The only thing that President Obama can do in the next four years is to lay down the groundwork for improvement in security, education, and civil development.
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