The United States pledged today not to abandon Afghanistan as the two countries began top-level talks after weeks of public spats between the White House and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The discussions, which include top diplomatic, defense, military and intelligence officials on both sides, aim to present a united front despite the acrimony involving Mr Karzai's string of anti-Western comments and the sharp US response.
In the first public session of the talks held in an US state department reception room, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington has a long-term commitment to Kabul and that the two sides could disagree without rupturing ties.
"As we look toward a responsible, orderly transition in the international combat mission in Afghanistan, we will not abandon the Afghan people," Mrs Clinton said, alluding to US plans to begin pulling out some some troops by July 2011.
That goal has always seemed ambitious given the widening Taliban insurgency more than eight years after US forces invaded following the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Afghan officials have said they expected "frank" exchanges with President Barack Obama during a meeting tomorrow when Mr Karzai is likely to press him on civilian casualties that have undermined the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan.
While there will be public handshakes and smiles in the Rose Garden, Mr Obama is expected to deliver his own firm message that to sustain US support, Mr Karzai must work harder to build up government capacity and deal with pervasive corruption.
Anticipating the US pressure, Mr Karzai said his government would do its part.
"Afghanistan will continue to build its institutions to preserve its progress and to walk towards the future with steady, strong steps," Mr Karzai said as the talks formally began.
"We will be having disagreements on issues from time to time. But that is the sign of a mature relationship, the sign of a steady relationship," he added.
Mr Karzai’s four-day visit includes a review of Mr Obama’s decision to send thousands of reinforcements to Afghanistan in December, ahead of a White House assessment of US strategy planned for the end of this year.
He also will use highly publicised meetings with Mr Obama and other officials to try to show Americans that his country is not a lost cause.
Pentagon leaders say they are cautiously optimistic about the war as American forces spread across southern Afghanistan, but a Pentagon report to Congress this month said there were no districts where the counter-insurgency campaign was an unqualified success.
The war remains a stalemate in crucial areas and US military officials do not dispute the Taliban’s boast that 2009 was its most successful year.
The visit comes a few weeks before what Mr Karzai calls a “peace jirga” intended to prepare the ground for reconciliation talks. The White House calls it a “consultative” meeting that will not include the most hardcore insurgents.
The Obama administration says it wants Afghanistan to reach its own political compromises but has been vague about how high up the Taliban leadership chain it should go.
Mr Karzai or his intermediaries already have engaged in some form of talks with ranking Taliban representatives, but the US has not given its blessing for discussions with senior leaders of three main Afghan insurgent groups — Taliban chief Mullah Omar; Jalaluddin Haqqani, who runs an al Qaida-linked organisation; and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the boss of the powerful Hezb-e-Islami.
“Historically, I think the most important thing is that we first get an Afghan solution, crafted by Afghans, and, second, that it be inclusive and it feel fair to everyone,” the overall US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, told reporters yesterday.
The US has set a high bar for bringing militants into the fold. They must renounce violence, sever ties to al Qaida and “respect” the Afghan constitution, although there are varying interpretations of what the latter means.
“The topic of reintegration, reconciliation, is one that will be high on this week’s agenda,” US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry said.
“I think there’s a clarity right now between our two governments about what the common principle should be.”
But as recently as March, Mr Karzai suggested there was no such clarity. He said the US was reluctant to talk to top-ranking Taliban while Britain was not.
“Our allies are not always talking the same language,” he said then.
The Karzai government is readying a new programme offering cash and other inducements to encourage the defection of low and mid-level Taliban fighters.
Afghan officials insist that reintegration of low-level fighters and reconciliation of the Taliban’s top echelon need to be conducted in tandem.
At a White House news conference, Mr Eikenberry admitted that relations with Mr Karzai had been shaky at times. In a secret appraisal last year, he called Mr Karzai erratic and not up to the job as a partner for the US military build-up then in the planning stages.
But Mr Eikenberry sidestepped a question about whether his concerns about Mr Karzai as a leader had been fully allayed.
“He’s the elected president of Afghanistan,” Mr Eikenberry said. “Of course I highly respect President Karzai.”
Reuters/PA