Afghan President Karzai to be set international targets

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

Gordon Brown has said Afghanistan's president will be set targets by the international community for training Afghan forces and tackling corruption. Mr Brown said Hamid Karzai would be expected to give commitments at a conference in London on 28 January.

The prime minister confirmed the international conference plans at the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad.

Mr Karzai will face targets of ensuring 50,000 troops for training and barring corrupt provincial governors, he said.

Mr Brown made the announcement alongside United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will be at the conference.

=snip=

The prime minister said: "What we need is a political push to match the military push we're now agreeing to. And that means that President Karzai has got to accept that there will be milestones by which he's going to be judged and he's got to accept that there will be benchmarks which the international community will set."

He said the targets would enable control to be handed over to Afghan authorities and pave the way for British troops to return home.
BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says Mr Brown has never been blunter in dictating terms to Mr Karzai.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8384193.stm

[asjr]

1. There we go again. Tut-tuting and shaking

our finger at Karzai. Whole lot of good it will do. They would do better getting rid of him. He is a puppet and I have no idea who is pulling his strings, but he is no good for us and for his country.

[Turborama]

2. For the first time we're hearing about an exit strategy

Which in my mind is a good thing.

[PSPS]

3. "out of the country within the next eight to nine years" is not an exit strategy

According to this:

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersComService_2_MOLT/idUSTRE5AM3E520091128

we'll still be propping up this corrupt puppet (or his designated replacement) in 2019 and likely beyond.

[Turborama]

4. Correct. Gordon Brown is explaining his exit strategy. You are quoting an exit timetable

According to that article, we'll be out of there by 2017 or 2018.

[Vidar]

5. Alexander the Great in won a few expensive battles in the region &

within a few months realized it was too demoralizing & miserable for his men to garrison any longer. But he led from the front, always experiencing the worst himself & his men adored him for it.