BONN, Germany — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged Monday that “the United States intends to stay the course” in Afghanistan after U.S. and coalition troops depart in three years.
But, she said, “Afghans have more work to do” to ensure that the billions of dollars they seek are not wasted. Donor nations face “serious fiscal challenges” of their own, Clinton said in remarks to a global conference on Afghanistan.
In an illustration of the difficulties ahead, she announced that the United States would resume disbursement of about $700 million in fiscal 2011 reconstruction funds that were suspended in the summer, indirectly revealing for the first time that the money had been withheld over concerns about the Kabul Bank scandal.
Although the Afghan economy was the official theme of the conference, the underlying focus was the absence of two key players — Pakistan and the Taliban — and concern about U.S.-Afghanistan negotiations over a long-term American counterterrorism presence after the combat troops go home.
Pakistan boycotted the meeting to express anger over a U.S. airstrike that killed two dozen of its soldiers late last month.
