Obama rejects Afghan war options

PRESIDENT Barack Obama rejected the Afghanistan war options before him and asked for revisions, his defence secretary has said, after the US ambassador in Kabul argued that a significant US troop increase would only prop up a weak, corruption-tainted government.

Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, who is also a former commander in Afghanistan, twice in the last week voiced strong dissent against sending large numbers of new forces, according to an administration official. That puts him at odds with the current war commander, General Stanley McChrystal, who is seeking thousands more troops.

Eikenberry’s misgivings, expressed in classified cables to Washington, highlight administration concerns that bolstering the American presence in Afghanistan could make the country more reliant on the US, not less. He expressed his objections just ahead of Obama’s latest war meeting.