US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has admitted that the United States and its Nato allies are not winning the war in Afghanistan and suggested that American military commanders should consider reaching out to elements within the Taliban.
In an interview with the New York Times yesterday, Mr Obama noted that US engagement with Sunni leaders in Iraq, some of whom were regarded as Islamic fundamentalists, had contributed to an improvement in the security situation there.
“There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region,” he said.
“But the situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex. You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, so figuring all that out is going to be much more of a challenge.”
Washington has criticised Pakistan for making a peace deal with Taliban leaders in the Swat Valley but Mr Obama’s advisors fear that, without a change in strategy, the US could face a long and ultimately unsuccessful military campaign in Afghanistan.
The president restated his commitment to end the torture of suspected terrorists in US custody but he left open the possibility of capturing suspects abroad without the co-operation of the host country – a procedure known as rendition.
“There could be situations, and I emphasise ‘could be’ because we haven’t made a determination yet, where let’s say we have a well-known al-Qaeda operative, that doesn’t surface very often, appears in a third country, with whom we don’t have an extradition relationship, or would not be willing to prosecute him, but we think is a very dangerous person,” he said.
“I think we will have to think about how do we deal with that scenario in a way that comports with international law and abides by my very clear edict that we don’t torture, and that we ultimately provide anybody that we’re detaining an opportunity through habeas corpus to answer to charges.”
Mr Obama expressed confidence that his administration would “get all the pillars in place” for an economic recovery this year but he acknowledged that the speed with which those changes have an impact on the labour market and economic growth would depend on a number of factors, including better global economic policy co-ordination.
In a television interview yesterday, White House budget director Peter Orszag admitted that the American economy was fundamentally weak. Mr Orszag suggested that the administration’s financial predictions may need to be revised.