Barack Obama signals end of war in Afghanistan with warning to Pakistan

US President Barack Obama delivers an address to the American people on US policy and the war in Afghanistan during his visit to Bagram AirBase May 2, 2012 in Afghanistan. (AFP photo) WASHINGTON: Air Force One turned into midnight express as US president Barack Obama swept unannounced into Afghanistan on the first anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Ladento signal an end to war there ahead of a strenuous election season at home. Obama flew to into Bagram air base outside Kabul lateon Tuesday, signed a pactin the dead of the night with Afghan president Hamid Karzai outlining future advisory US role, spoke to American troops in the wee hours of the morning, and made a primetime TV address to an US audience at the crack of dawn Kabul time, before flying back, symbolically shutting down in ten hours a war that has lasted more than a decade. Soon after he left, Kabul erupted in violence even as Taliban announced whatit called a spring offensivestarting May 3, wire reports said. Terrorists armed with guns, suicide vests and a bomb-laden car attacked a heavily fortified compound used byWesterners in Kabul, killing seven people and wounding more than a dozen. On a militant website, Taliban declared that the new offensive, code-named al Farouq, would target "foreign invaders, their advisors, their contractors, all thosewho help them militarily andin intelligence." The so-called "invaders," who by Obama's account came to Afghanistan only because Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida set up base here, would have largely left under a transition the president outlined. But the withdrawal, while more than just symbolic, will alsoinvolve continued US role in Afghanistan over the next decade under the strategic accord, including American advisors and trainers, targets Taliban threatened it will aim for. In his ten-minute address to Americans back home gearing up for elections in November, Obama promised that the goal he set to defeat al-Qaida and deny it a chance to rebuild"is now within our reach," enabling a transition that"will complete our mission and end the war in Afghanistan." At the same time, he signalled that the US would not abandon Afghanistan and will remaininvested in the country's security and development for the next decade. The US president also had sharp and peremptory words for Afghanistan's neighbour Pakistan, whose"strategic depth" policy involving interference in Afghanistan is the cause ofmuch grief to Washington."I have made it clear to Pakistan," Obama warned grimly, "that it can and should be an equal partnerin this process in a way that respects Afghanistan's sovereignty,interests and democratic institutions." He also added: "In pursuit of a durable peace, America has no designs beyond an end to al-Qaida safe havens and respect for Afghan sovereignty." Implicit in those remarks is advice to Pakistan that it should not seek overlordship of Afghanistan or manipulate who will rule Kabul, while atthe same time assuring Islamabad that US is not interested in dismantling Pakistan or its nuclear weapons. Some analysts have suggested Obama is more than just annoyed with Pakistan for being thespoiler in the region. In a review of the Obama visit, former CIA analyst and Heritage Foundation senior fellow Lisa Curtis said the President's frustration with Pakistan and its lack of cooperation in Afghanistan came through in his remarks."Islamabad's practice of relying on violent Islamist proxies in Afghanistan (and India) has backfired badly on Pakistan," she wrote Tuesday, advising US officials to "build on thissentiment by convincing Pakistani leaders that unless they ... force the Taliban to compromise in Afghanistan, Pakistan will suffer from an emboldenedTaliban leadership that willproject its power back intoPakistan." "Moreover, Pakistan will face increasing isolation and lose credibility with theinternational community forcontinuing policies that encourage terrorism and endanger the safety of civilized nations," she added. From Islamabad though, there was little sign of any policy change even as Pakistani analystsgloated at the prospect of US difficulties in drawing down from Afghanistan in the face of continued blockade of Nato supply route. ®™