Obama vows more military, Afghans say

KABUL, Afghanistan — President-elect Barack Obama told Afghanistan’s leader that he will dedicate more U.S. aid and military power to this region’s fight against extremists groups once he takes office, the Afghan presidential office said Sunday

The telephone conversation between Obama and President Hamid Karzai on Saturday was the first reported contact between the two.

A senior Afghan official dismissed the idea that anything should be read into the delay, calling Obama a “busy man.”

“I think it was purely a logistical issue, nothing of political significance,” said the adviser, who agreed to discuss the phone call only if not quoted by name because he wasn’t authorized to talk about it.

The leadership change from President George W. Bush could present Karzai with new challenges in his relationship with the U.S. Obama has chided Karzai and his government in the past, saying it had “not gotten out of the bunker” and helped to organize the country or its political and security institutions.

The United States has some 32,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, a number that will be increased by thousands next year. The current NATO commander, U.S. Gen. David McKiernan, has requested an additional 20,000 troops.

Fighting terrorism and the insurgency “in Afghanistan, the region and the world is a top priority,” Karzai’s office quoted Obama as saying.

“The region” is commonly used by Afghan officials to refer to neighboring Pakistan, where Karzai and Bush administration officials have longed complained that Taliban and al-Qaida militants have bases to support their attacks in Afghanistan.

Obama’s reported pledge to step up military help likely pleased Karzai, whose relations with Pakistan are testy because of his accusations that the Pakistani intelligence service supports the Taliban in bombings in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s government flatly denies the charge.

Obama also has expressed frustration with Pakistan over its failure to quell Islamic militants on its territory. During the presidential campaign, he said, “If Pakistan cannot or will not act, we will take out high-level terrorist targets like (Osama) bin Laden if we have them in our sights.”

Last week, American troops fired artillery at insurgents attacking their position from inside Pakistan’s volatile tribal region, and since mid-August U.S. forces are suspected of using drone aircraft to launch at least 20 missile at targets on Pakistani territory, killing dozens of alleged extremists while angering the Pakistani government.

The top spokesman for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, said Sunday that cooperation among Afghan, NATO and Pakistani troops is “the best it has ever been.”