KABUL, Afghanistan — Barack Obama met with U.S. troops and received a military briefing on conditions in Afghanistan on Saturday during the opening leg of an overseas trip designed to reassure American voters that he would make a reliable commander-in-chief.
Obama’s trip is to include Iraq and a meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has recently discussed a key campaign issue: when the U.S. should pull out its troops.
The German magazine Der Spiegel, recently quoted al-Maliki as embracing Obama’s plan to withdraw U.S. troops within 16 months, saying, “That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.”
But an al-Maliki aide early today said that report was inaccurate and that the Iraqi prime minister had not endorsed a specific timetable, nor did he intend to be “part of the electoral campaign in the United States.”
The presumed Republican nominee, John McCain, has said that conditions in Iraq could worsen if troops were removed at the pace his rival has advised.
Obama’s high-profile trip caps a week on the campaign trail during which he focused on national security and U.S. commitments abroad — areas that are considered special strengths of McCain.
His visit to Afghanistan comes at a time of sharply deteriorating security. Suicide bombings are an everyday occurrence, and the number of foreign troops killed last month was the highest since the start of the war.
The presumptive Democratic nominee and senator from Illinois is part of an official congressional delegation that includes Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. The lawmakers made a brief visit to Jalalabad airfield in eastern Afghanistan to greet American troops.
At Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, Obama and the others met with senior military officials and got a briefing from the commander of American forces in eastern Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser.
Although Afghanistan’s south is the heartland of insurgency, the eastern front, where U.S. forces are focused, has heated up dramatically.
American troops suffered their worst single-incident loss in three years last Sunday, when about 200 insurgents staged a well-organized assault on a remote base near the Pakistani border manned by U.S. and Afghan troops; nine Americans were killed, and 15 were wounded.
A closer look at the wars
Earlier, Obama told reporters that he wanted a firsthand evaluation of the Afghan and Iraqi war zones.
“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is,” he said Thursday. “I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense, both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what . . . their biggest concerns are. And I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they’ve been doing.”
Obama was to meet today with President Hamid Karzai.
There is considerable enthusiasm in Afghanistan at the prospect of a change in the American administration. Many Afghans, while grateful for the U.S.-led invasion more than six years ago that drove the Taliban from power, are disappointed that the country remains violent and poor.
Obama “has good ideas about Afghanistan, and I hope he becomes the U.S. president,” said university student Hafeez Mohammad Sultani, 23. “He is young and full of energy.”
Others were more skeptical.
“Bush couldn’t provide security in Afghanistan, so that will be difficult for Obama too,” said telecommunications worker Shams ul-Rahman, 38. “This is a very big challenge for America — maybe there will be some changes in the way Obama is thinking about Afghanistan.”
Obama’s companions on the trip are considered possible administration appointees. Reed is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Hagel is a Vietnam veteran who, like Obama, has opposed the Iraq war.
Taking on McCain’s strength
Polls show most Americans see McCain, a Vietnam prisoner of war, as the more seasoned candidate when it comes to foreign policy.
To close the gap, Obama has been trying to shore up his credentials. In speeches and opinion pieces, Obama has argued that invading Iraq was a mistake, that Iraqi officials also favor a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal and that Afghanistan is the real front in the war on terrorism.
McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, said in a statement Saturday that “the difference between John McCain and Barack Obama is that Barack Obama advocates an unconditional withdrawal that ignores the facts on the ground and the advice of our top military commanders. John McCain believes withdrawal must be based on conditions on the ground.”
“Prime Minister Maliki has repeatedly affirmed the same view and did so again today. Timing is not as important as whether we leave with victory and honor, which is of no apparent concern to Barack Obama. The fundamental truth remains that Sen. McCain was right about the (U.S. troop) surge (in Iraq) and Sen. Obama was wrong.”
Obama is also scheduled to visit the Middle East and Europe.
