Talking Politics

Barack Obama - the Democratic presidential candidate - has promised to aid Afghanistan in the talks with their Western-backed leader and to continue with the war on terror “with vigor” if he is elected. During the second day of the international tour Obama and other U.S. senators talked for two hours with President Hamid Karzai in the capital of Afghan.

Obama has chided Karzai for not doing more to build confidence in the Afghan government, whose grip remains weak after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. U.S. Embassy spokesman Mark Stroh said the senators had discussed issues including the painstaking rebuilding of the country’s government and economy, the security situation and corruption with Karzai.

The Afghan presidency said Obama’s message was positive. “Sen. Obama conveyed … that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continue the war against terrorism with vigor,” said Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai’s spokesman. ‘A very strong partner’

Both Democrats and Republicans “are friends of Afghanistan and no matter who wins the U.S. elections, Afghanistan will have a very strong partner in the United States,” Hamidzada said. Obama has made Afghanistan a centerpiece of his proposed strategy for dealing with terrorism threats.

The Illinois senator has said the war in Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants are resurgent, deserves more troops and more attention as opposed to the conflict in Iraq. While officially part of a congressional delegation on a fact-finding tour also expected to take him to Iraq, Obama traveled in Afghanistan amid the security accorded a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois.