Clinton: Demands will accompany any Afghan aid

[unhappycamper]

Clinton: Demands will accompany any Afghan aid
By Anne Gearan - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 15, 2009 17:20:03 EST

WASHINGTON — The United States is limiting its goals in Afghanistan and demanding better accountability from that country’s underperforming leader, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday, and she tied additional U.S. civilian help to results from Kabul.

Clinton, an influential voice in deliberations about whether to add large numbers of U.S. troops to an unpopular 8-year war, said Afghan President Hamid Karzai can do more to reduce corruption and go after those who may have looted U.S. aid in the past.

“I have made it clear that we’re not going to be providing any civilian aid to Afghanistan unless we have a certification that if it goes into the Afghan government in any form, that we’re going to have ministries that we can hold accountable,” Clinton said.

~snip~

The time is past, Clinton said dismissively, when U.S. officials would “talk about how we were going to help the Afghans build a modern democracy and build a more functioning state and do all these wonderful things.”

She added: “That could happen, but our primary focus is on the security of the United States of America — how do we protect and defend against future attacks.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_afghanistan_111509/


unhappycamper comment: If the mission is to protect our forces over there, what the fuck are we doing over there? Bring 'em home and declare 'Mission Accomplished".

[icnorth]

1. Another "Alice In Wonderland" moment. n/t