White House says Kabul needs to be credible partner
(For more on Pakistan and Afghanistan, click [nAFPAK])
* More White House deliberations in next weeks
* Senator Kerry says Karzai must "step up"
* Lawmakers urge Obama to send more troops
WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's Afghanistan strategy and decision on U.S. troops depends on whether the Kabul government is effective, a senior White House aide said on Sunday.
The overriding question is not, "how many troops you send, but do you have a credible Afghan partner," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said on CNN's "State of the Union," adding the country does not have in place the army, police force and services to be effective.
Allegations of fraud in the August presidential elections have left Afghanistan in a state of political uncertainty at a time when Obama is deciding troop levels to fight the Taliban.
But Emanuel said it was important that the election outcome be seen as legitimate and credible, with the decision by Afghanistan on whether there is an election runoff between President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah or a negotiation between the candidates.
"What would be worse is if the Afghan people thought that the course that was chosen was done by the determination of the United States," he said on CBS television's "Face the Nation."
The White House review of its Afghan strategy and recommendations on troop levels will continue with meetings next week and the following week, Emanuel added, saying on CNN it would be "reckless" to decide whether to send more troops without a thorough analysis.
"It's clear that basically we had a war for eight years that was going on, that's adrift. ... And there's not a security force, an army, the type of services that are important for the Afghans to become a true partner," he told CNN.
U.S.-led troops ousted the Taliban government after the Sept. 11 attacks for offering safe haven to al Qaeda, but the Islamist movement has regrouped into a formidable insurgency.
LEGITIMATE
Casualties are rising among the 68,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan and Americans are tiring of war. U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal has recommended sending 40,000 additional troops.
"The most important (is to) get a government that is seen as legitimate to the people and has the credibility to be a partner in the effort to secure Afghanistan so it's not a haven for al Qaeda or other type of terrorists or international terrorist organizations," he said on CBS.
Democratic Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on CNN in an interview from Kabul that it would be irresponsible to commit more troops when the outcome of Afghanistan's election is undecided.
"This is a moment for President Karzai to frankly step up and help to share with the world a better vision for how the government here is going to deliver and be a full partner," Kerry said later on CBS.
Kerry, who was defeated by George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential campaign, was among several high-level visitors to Afghanistan before an expected announcement of a decision on the election.
Two senior lawmakers urged Obama on Sunday to approve a big enough increase to allow General McChrystal "to break the Taliban's momentum as quickly as possible."
Representative Ike Skelton, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, and Senator Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said a "decisive force" was needed to secure the country and give the Afghan government the chance to succeed.
"We will not win this conflict because we send some specific number of additional troops to Afghanistan. But those additional troops are, in our opinion, probably necessary to buy the time and space to help the Afghan people win their own fight against the Taliban and other extremist groups," they said in an opinion column in The Washington Post.
(Reporting by Jackie Frank and Doug Palmer, Editing by Sandra Maler)
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