Clinton warns US has 'no long-term stake' in Afghanistan
November 16,
2009: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned the Afghan governments Sunday
it cannot count on long-term US support, demanding President Hamid Karzai
take concrete steps to tackle graft.
Clinton starkly defined the limits to the US war effort as
aimed at eradicating Al-Qaeda and not toward establishing a modern democracy,
as President Barack Obama mulls the possibility of sending more US troops
there.
"We're not interested in staying in Afghanistan. We have
no long-term stake there. We want that to be made very clear," Clinton told
ABC news.
"We agree that our goal here is to defeat Al-Qaeda. That
has been a clear goal and a mission from the president ever since he made his
commitment of additional troops back in the spring."
And with Obama expected to make another fateful troop
decision soon after his return from Asia next week, Clinton turned up the
heat on Karzai over alleged widespread corruption in his administration.
"There does have to be actions by the government of
Afghanistan against those who have taken advantage of the money that has
poured into Afghanistan in the last eight years so that we can better track
it and we can have actions taken that demonstrate there's no impunity for
those who are corrupt."
Clinton said Washington expected Karzai to set up a major
crimes tribunal and an anti-corruption commission and warned that millions of
US dollars of US civilian aid were contingent on seeing progress on graft.
Afghan graft battle stands or falls with warlords
Karzai, for his part, has called on the West to do its
part to clamp down on corruption.
Obama on Friday promised to announce his Afghan strategy
review soon as he edges closer to a decision on reinforcing the 68,000 US
troops that will be fighting in Afghanistan by the end of the year.
His administration has sought to deflect claims from the Republican
opposition that the commander-in-chief is dithering and does not have the
stomach for making tough decisions.
